Diner is serving breakfast and lunch
Samantha Frye, left, and Ray Owens are co-owners of the Mill Street Diner.
Mill Street Diner opened Aug. 3 at 993 W. Main St. in Sugarcreek. The diner, which serves breakfast and lunch, is a combined partnership of Ray Owens and Samantha Frye, both of Dundee.
Frye, who was 18 when she purchased Rosalie’s Restaurant in Strasburg, has joined forces with Owens to create a new restaurant in Sugarcreek.
“I was a regular at Rosalie’s and met Samantha. We became friends, and she spoke about wanting to expand her business or maybe exploring more business opportunities. I kept going past the empty building on West Main and Mill streets. It kept drawing me back. I was not aware the street was named Mill Street (Ohio 93). Samantha came with me to look at the building, and after talking to Sam and putting our heads together, we decided to open the diner,” Owens said.
Owens has owned the Mill Street Grill food truck since 2020.
“I love what I do to make people happy and cater to the community. We recently served over 200 using a Garaway theme,” Owens said.
Owens said they worked for two months to get the diner ready to open for business. It formerly housed the Honey Bee Café and Campbell Creek Pretzels. Inside are several booths that were located at the former Beachy Swiss Chalet restaurant. The interior is decorated in Garaway Schools colors of red and blue along with added memorabilia. There are 12 employees. Siera Romig does the baking and manages the servers. The diner seats 82 customers.
Owens was concerned about the parking at the restaurant. Sugarcreek Council agreed to add a handicapped parking place on Ohio 93 and open another parking space at the bottom of the hill. He said when nearby businesses are closed, customers can park in those lots.
One of the favorites of customers is the Wreck, which has potatoes, eggs, green peppers, mushrooms, cheese and choice of meat with homemade sausage gravy on top. Several popular items are the fish sandwich or fish dinner, which includes French fries and coleslaw; the Funky Burger with bacon, Swiss cheese and peanut butter; and the Angry Pirate Burger with pepper jack cheese, onion rings and jalapenos topped with homemade hot sauce. Also on the menu are a variety of muffins, coffee cake and homemade Texas sheet cake with peanut butter frosting. Specials are offered every day.
“I had some local customers ask me why I named the breakfast dish the Wreck. They told me in 1988 there was a serious Shanesville wreck at this intersection,” he said. “I had no idea but decided to keep the name.”
Frye has worked in the restaurant business since she was 14 and loves what she does. She is excited to partner with Owens in this new venture. Prior to purchasing Rosalie’s, she washed dishes at the restaurant.
“I manage Rosalie’s, and Ray manages the day-to-day operations at the Mill Street Diner. I stop in and help when I can. I often pick up supplies for him,” she said.
The diner is open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
On Oct. 21 and each Monday, the diner will be open until 7 p.m. The Monday menu will include wings and hamburgers.