A four-sentence, friends-only Facebook post led to an entire community showing up for a neighborhood restaurant that needed them.
The owners of Silver Queen Cafe in northeast Baltimore got the surprise of their lives on Friday evening: after a slower-than-normal start to the back-to-school season, the café was full and there was a line out the door extending down the block.
That morning, co-owner Jason Daniloski shared the tough news on his Facebook page that if business didn’t pick up in the next few weeks, “it doesn’t look good.”
“If you would like to see us around, please consider coming in or ordering from us,” he continued. “I really believe in what we do and would like to continue doing it.”
Daniloski had only shared the status update with his friends on Facebook, but a friend in the restaurant business asked him to make it public so that she could share it. Daniloski complied, making it public, and the post was shared 64 times with 54 comments building up on the post.
Nicole Evanshaw, Daniloski’s wife and co-owner of Silver Queen Cafe, told Baltimore Fishbowl that they were dreading the weekend.
“Truthfully it’s very disheartening, when you want to cook for people, to not have people to cook for,” Evanshaw said.
She started seeing Daniloski’s post shared around on Facebook late Friday morning, then she saw it on their neighborhood community page, and many people who commented expressed surprise that the business was struggling. They’d been in business nearly nine years, and Evanshaw supposes people simply presumed they were cruising along, doing fine, which was not the case.
“So, Friday at dinner, we were inundated, and I mean that in the best sense of the word,” Evanshaw said.
She was unable to be there that night, but a friend texted her with a picture and told her there was a line out the door.
“There were just so many people from the community and so many people that have supported us in the past that maybe we haven’t seen for a while, and it just blew us away,” Evanshaw said. “I mean to the point where you’re in tears because you thought that maybe people just didn’t like you anymore, and you realize that it wasn’t that.”
So, what was it?
Evanshaw explained their restaurant had been suffering through an unusually slow summer. Slowdowns are typical that time of year, but this year’s was their worst in their nine years of business. Back-to-school season also brings a customer downturn with school supply costs, college sendoffs, and the like. The couple is used to that seasonal flux, but this year’s was so dramatic they started considering difficult choices.
“We weren’t ready to make any hard decisions, but it was looking like we were absolutely headed in that direction if things didn’t pick up,” Evanshaw said. “There was a lot of discussion at home about ‘Do we renew our lease? What do we do? Do we start letting people go?’ That kind of stuff.”
She added, “We don’t want to close. We love what we do, and we can’t imagine doing anything else.… And I think just out of sheer desperation, he [Daniloski] put that post out, and he didn’t want to say it on our business page. But obviously it got a lot of attention from a lot of people.”
A LOT of people, because business continued to be busy throughout Saturday, even during brunch — unusual because Sunday is their busiest day for brunch. Saturday’s dinner service had them running out of nearly everything by 7:30 p.m., which is not very far into the dinner service.
“The 86 list was almost longer than our menu,” Evanshaw said. “Thankfully, people were very gracious and understanding. Most people were very good-natured about it, and we really appreciated their patience.”
Sunday was more of the same, and by the end of their brunch service they ran out of eggs, which is unheard of given how many dozens they purchase for their brunch crowd. That marked a first for them.
Silver Queen Cafe is closed on Monday and Tuesday, so the couple had time to regroup and restock for Wednesday, which Evanshaw says is another first for the restaurant: they had a record number of people on the books for a Wednesday. If this continues, they’ll need to hire staff, which is a great problem to have.
As for why the summer season was so slow, Evanshaw chalks it up to several possible reasons, including people traveling more and COVID-related cancellations. If one person in the party has COVID, usually the entire party cancels. Many new restaurants are also opening, which she loves for the Baltimore food scene, but realizes that may leave fewer customers for Silver Queen.
Evanshaw also thinks people are under the impression they are much more expensive than they really are.
“I am not quite sure where that comes from, because we aren’t,” Evanshaw said. “We don’t have an entree over $28 … and that’s only one entree that’s $28, so most of our things are priced lower.”
The couple is beyond grateful, touched, and happy at the number of people who showed up and are continuing to show up, and to hear everyone’s kind, encouraging words.
“We’re just a family that lives in the neighborhood,”Evanshaw said. “We’re not a restaurant group. We’re not getting rich off this. We do it just because we want to. We hope to be able to pay our mortgage.”
Silver Queen Cafe is open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday, and brunch on Saturday and Sunday. They are located at 5429 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD.
Absolutely love the food on Sunday morning at Silver Queen and the staff couldn’t be more friendlyfan of Hamilton. Well deserving of the increase in business.
I had no idea they were hurting. Their food is top notch, as are the inspired cocktails. Silver Queen is a defining part of our neighborhood landscape. It’s one of the things we relish about living in NE Baltimore City. I am grateful we were made aware of the situation so we could rally around them.
Driving through Hamilton and Lauraville, especially at rush hours, the road diet, bike lanes, and “calming” of traffic on Harford Road necessitates extra time and stress for commutes and chore trips. People are taking faster routes, such as Perring Parkway and Walther Blvd. After realizing the more efficient route, it becomes an automatic response to take that route at all times. The businesses naturally suffer.
Would love to come in and support. Does anyone know if they still require proof of vaccination in order to dine? I know it was a thing a while back with Silver Queen.