A few months ago, Lori Balandran set out to buy a meat-slicer and wound up purchasing a restaurant. We’re not kidding.
It all started when Balandran learned the Quetzal Restaurant at 222 N.W. Independence had closed and the owners were selling some of the store’s equipment.
“I actually came over here to see if they had a meat-slicer for sale,” said Balandran, who owned the nearby L&J’s Café with her husband, Jonathan. “I wasn’t even thinking about purchasing anything like (the restaurant). A meat-slicer is all I wanted.”
Accompanied by her daughter, Cassi Barr, Balandran started chatting with Quetzal owner Evelyn Rivera, who showed them the kitchen. It looked huge compared to the compact cooking area Balandran was used to at the café.
“Cassi was like, ‘Look mom. Look at how big this kitchen is. You’d have real fun in here,’ ” Balandran said. “We talked about it a few more times (with Rivera), and before we knew it we were here.”
The Balandrans, who opened L&J’s II on Sept. 26, suddenly found themselves with two restaurants on their hands, and that’s how they’re keeping it for now. L&J’s II is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The café at 2134 N.W. Kansas Ave. is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
The new location offers a large, comfortable dining room that still bears the bright Quetzal colors and a large hand-painted mural Lori couldn’t bring herself to paint over.
“You can’t Kilz it,” she said, referring to the popular cover-up paint. “The artist (Christina Brun) took a lot of time to research it.”
The Balandrans, on the other hand, didn’t have to spend a lot time developing a menu for the new restaurant. They started with a full lineup of breakfast items, added the lunch menu, including L&J’s handmade burgers, and topped it off with the home-style specials Lori featured at the café. There’s also a kids menu, some Mexican food and baked goods.
“I’ve had several people tell us it’s nice,” Balandran said, “because they can come out with the kids, and it really doesn’t matter what they want. There’s something on the menu that everybody can have, whether it’s breakfast (served all day), lunch or dinner.”
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http://food.topeka.net/food/l-js-ii
