RIVER FALLS – South Fork Café located in downtown River Falls has been a staple in the community for many years. The space itself has been a restaurant since 1915 and has kept the South Fork Café name for 34 years.

The café has been owned and operated by Dawn and Chris Berendes for 20 years. They closed the doors to South Fork Café on June 24.

The café has been sold to a new owner and will remain as a restaurant on Main Street. The South Fork Café has been in Dawn Berendes’ family for 34 years. Her brother, Dave Hudak, bought the restaurant in 1987 and she bought the café from her brother in 2001.

“I have been in the restaurant business since I was 11 with my parents and I worked for my brother when he owned the café too, so when he wanted out, I said I would give it a whirl,” she said.

Dawn Berendes has had this restaurant in her life for many years and has gained a lot of strong relationships with people in the community. She said, “a lot of the employees I’ve had have been with me for a long time, so it is for sure a family feel.”

Chris and Dawn Berendes are planning to “semi-retire” after selling the café.

“Over the last couple years we’ve talked about selling and when the opportunity arose, we took it,” she said. “I want to be an employee again and not an employer, so it was just time. We are going on vacation as soon as we sell and I’m looking forward to getting back to things I enjoyed doing but didn’t have the time.”

Some of their favorite memories while owning the South Fork Café include many of the community-centered events in River Falls.

“Me and my husband were on the committee for the Tri-Angels Park project, we always enjoyed doing Art on the Kinni, the car cruises when they used to do them, we would always set up a food stand out front, those are some great memories,” she said.

Being a restaurant in a college town created some good memories as well.

“We used to do a midnight shift and would reopen at midnight and close again at 4 a.m. and then reopen again at 6 a.m. and we did that for two years. When we did that, we had learned that I was the bouncer, and my husband was not because everyone wanted to fight with him. We made a lot of friends and fun memories doing that,” she said.

Dawn Berendes said selling the café is a very bittersweet feeling.

“This is a great community and we have been supported for many years which is awesome. We’ve met a lot of people and gained some good relationships with the other businesses in town. Moving on from this is exciting but bittersweet,” she said.

The restaurant has always been known for its made-from scratch cinnamon rolls, pies and legendary breakfasts. Finding an open table on a weekend has been a challenge, a testament to its popularity.

Kris and Barret Grove will be taking over and renaming the restaurant Table on Main. The new owners are planning to keep some of the staple items on the new menu once reopening. The made from scratch pies and other favorites will still be available.