Myrtle’s Cafe and Pie opens in Princeton

PRINCETON — Dave Grebner recently opened Myrtle’s Cafe and Pie in Princeton.

Grebner’s well-known homemade pies will be the main attraction at this restaurant which opened the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, serving pie and coffee.

Grebner started serving lunches this past week at 1007 N. Main St.

“We will also bring back favorites from our (old) menu,” he said. “We will have a good variety of sandwiches, soups, salads and pasta. Our fruit chicken salad and portabella steak sandwiches are the most popular ones we will serve.”

Grebner said there will be no deep frying, no French fries and no deep fried tenderloins served at Myrtle’s Cafe and Pie.

“We also make our own pasta sauce. I’ve got to have homemade Alfredo sauce,” he added.

The cafe’s hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays.

“We open Friday night so people can get pie for the weekend, and for those people who work until 5 p.m. to have a chance to eat here,” he said.

Grebner also thinks just being open for the lunch crowd will be more manageable for him, since he also has a weekend waitressing job in Peoria. He last operated a place in Princeton about nine years ago.

“I am glad to be back. This will be more manageable for me, not being open seven days a week and working from 2 a.m. to 10 p.m. like it was before,’’ he said. “I won’t be burning the candle at both ends.”

Grebner said there are several reasons why he decided to open another restaurant in Princeton.

“People know me and my family in Princeton and are friendly,” he said. “People also know me in Peoria, but it is less personal there.”

Grebner added he wanted a Main Street location and likes it up on the north end of Princeton with the antique shops and other specialty stores.

“This location also allowed me to open two weeks after taking over because of the closing of the business (Sip N Tan) that had been in the building prior to me taking over,” added Grebner, referring to the less remodeling he had to do to open Myrtle’s Cafe and Pie.

Grebner uses the name of his grandmother, Myrtle Herold, in his restaurants because he was close to her growing up in Tiskilwa.

Grebner’s grandparents ran Herold’s Food Market in Peoria Heights for many years. Grebner also had two uncles who ran pizzerias, one in Peoria and one in Utah.

“It is in my blood,” said Grebner, who has 26 years of experience in the restaurant business, starting when he was 16 years old.

The business’ phone number is 309-361-3555.

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