Lange's Cafe History

Lange's Cafe . . . The Cafe That Never Slept Was a Pipestone Tradition

Minneapolis StarTribune Article from May 17, 2016

PIPESTONE, MINN. - The old glass door to Lange's Cafe has been repaired, its hinges replaced. But not once in 55 years has it ever been locked. After an addition in 1961, the twin brothers who owned the diner dropped the keys in the wet concrete, proclaiming, "Here's to never closing." Telling the story decades later, owner Steve Lange gripped the door's red handle and grinned, knowing that they've kept that promise. For 60 years, this cafe has been open 24 hours a day, every day. Set in the southwestern corner of the state, at the confluence of three highways, Lange's Cafe has survived by appealing to both truckers and townies, farmers and foodies. Lange, who took over for his father and uncle in the 1970s, has updated the till but has stuck with traditions others have abandoned. The noon special is still listed on a ribbed board, its white letters switched out nightly. Each day, cooks peel potatoes for mashed potatoes. Portions extend past the plate's edge. "We're still serving threshing crews," said Lange, 68, referring to the farmers, albeit fewer now, who come in midday. The restaurant's 60-year anniversary — which they're celebrating for 60 days — is made more impressive by the falling number of family-run cafes open around the clock. Some close for a few hours at night, others shut down on holidays and "a fair number we have lost," said Dan McElroy, of the Minnesota Restaurant Association. The venerable Mickey's Diner, which opened in St. Paul in 1939, might be the state's only spot that has Lange's beat.

"Fifteen years ago, more people were doing what we do," said Peg Lange, Steve's wife and the cafe's co-owner. "Now, in a sea of change, there's not a lot of full-service, independent restaurants — and certainly not those open 24/7, 365 days a year." She turned to Steve and laughed: "'Cause that's what you call crazy." Serving early risers Just after 6 a.m., Jim Carstensen walked in, grabbing the newspaper. "Jim, you want your usual?" a waitress asked. "Please," he replied. Carstensen has eaten breakfast at Lange's for 20 years. His order — the "1,1,1," as he calls it, or one toast, one bacon, one egg — isn't on the menu, but it's in the register. "You've seen a lot of small towns where those cafes have closed," said Carstensen, 65, a contractor and grounds keeper. "We're pretty fortunate to have this." When it opened, this cafe boasted 14 stools and six booths. Since then, the Lange’s have expanded and renovated both the restaurant and the bakery out back, but half those stools remain. Only three times has the restaurant stopped service — for the funerals of Lange's father, uncle and mother. Lacking a way to lock the door, they had an employee alert customers.

At one point, the family owned seven businesses in Pipestone. Steve Lange learned to cut meat at his dad's meat locker, where they let the teenager handle the hamburger but didn't trust him with steak. At their boat business, he upholstered boat interiors, a skill he has used to fix the cafe's booths. And he helped his mother peel and core apples for pies. She was the cafe's first baker, making double-crust pies in the basement of their home. The caramel roll recipe dates to Lange's great-grandmother, who also gets credit for the sour cream-raisin pie. 'New life' by pie That classic pie — once thought of as "the pie your grandpa or your dad would order," as Steve put it—became key to the restaurant's future. That's because Jane and Michael Stern, authors of the "Road Food" books, loved it. Describing it as "sweet with the sour-cream edge that makes its sweetness all the more potent," they declared it "the best sour cream raisin pie ever made." Instead of selling just a few pieces of the meringue-topped pie on a Sunday, Lange's now sells dozens. "We're so thankful to them, because they gave us new life," Peg Lange said. Today's foodie culture "is a great boost" to cafes like Lange's, which serve regional specialties, Michael Stern said by phone. Customers are more "eager to find interesting, good . . . food in all kinds of restaurants —shacks and diners and dives," he said. But "the economics of being open 24 hours a day are tough," he said. For decades, Tobies Restaurant and Bakery in Hinckley, Minn., was open 24 hours a day. But late last year, because of "staffing issues," the restaurant started closing from midnight until 6 a.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, said Chris Hickle, 47, who owns the restaurant with his parents.

"The main thing is trying to find employees who are overnight people," he said. Late-night infusion Darlene Her brought the glass pot of coffee and a handful of creamers to the one booth occupied at 11 p.m. on a recent weeknight  "We'll do an infusion here, huh?" she said with a smile. Her, 70, has worked the night shift — from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. — for 40 years, laughing with truck drivers, night-owls and regulars she knows by face, if not by name. She has no plans to retire, saying: "Maybe if the guy upstairs is gracious, I can keep on doing it until I'm 80." Steve Lange, who greets customers in a dress shirt and tie, hopes to work another decade, as well "Your customers, in a small community, they really become your friends," he said. "Some of them I pick on more than others." "A lot of them pick on you," Peg Lange shot back, laughing . . . Until recently, the cafe's future was uncertain. The couple have five children between them, but "I don't think they ever want to run a restaurant," Steve Lange said. Yet when they weighed the design of their new blinking sign, they committed: It features a clock and the words; "OPEN 24 HOURS." "We thought, do we want to keep doing this?" Peg Lange said. "Are we crazy enough to keep doing this?"  In April, they announced that the cafe's manager, a Pipestone native, would become a partner. Ryan Mollema, 31, grew up going to Lange's and worked there as a server. His brother was a dishwasher, his sister a waitress. His aunt and four cousins worked there, too '.

"We like to make it a family affair," Steve Lange said. "So - he knew what he was getting into."

Article by Jenna Ross Minneapolis StarTribune

Click On Photo Montage to Enlarge

24/ 7 FOR 60 YEARS: Michelle Rowback, top, served the dinner rush at Lange's, and Charlotte Page, the head baker, above left, made the cafe's famed pies. Above right, owners Steve and Peg Lange had their morning coffee

Click On Photo Grouping to Enlarge

Fun Stories at Lange's!

Paul Benz Lange’s Cafe Story:

It was another night of too much drinking and carousing in the Junior year of Paul Benz - but as often, but not all the time, we would end up at Lange's Cafe.  But one night I just got too rowdy with playing the little wall mounted music boxes and going from table to booth thinking it was our own playroom - to the point where the lead cook had had it after telling me to "Pipe down or I'll throw you out".   In my drunken state I probably talked back using some foul language or whatever - but bottom line is she ended up chasing me out with a butcher knife raised in her hand.  Fortunately, Greg Lindner and Arlen Kirkeby (class of 70 and old drinking buddies for a while) whisked me away in the car before she called the police . . . A narrow escape!!!!

Lots of good memories we all have had at Lange's Cafe that we hope stays open and viable for years to come . . .

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Four funny stories from Nikki Edwards about working at Lange’s Cafe Circa 1966:

Susan and I were only 13 when these stories happened and Steve, Susan’s brother, called me Nikita Khrushchev ;)

Story 1) Susan and I thought it would be fun to do dishes at Lange’s. After the Hatfield crowd it would be swamped and the dirty dishes just piled up, so we offered to help! I asked my parents, and their words were, when you start to earn money, you can never quit. They couldn’t make up the difference ~ even though it was $.79 an hour. But we had fun and then when it quieted down ~ they let us have anything we wanted to eat. I always had a malt, broasted chicken and fries. 

Story 2) I eventually started waitressing and our uniforms were soooo short. But I learned quickly that I could flirt in the uniform and the tip would be bigger! Those theater lessons worked!

Story 3) My mother did not like salad dressing, so when, seldom, we had lettuce we ate it with salt and pepper. That’s it! So when people ordered a certain dressing, they would be lucky to get the right kind from me. 

Story 4) Then I started cooking and oh boy ~ I knew nothing but eventually figured it out. I also learned how to clean a chicken and help make those delicious pies. I very seldom worked with friends unless it was super busy such as on Holidays. But we were so busy there was no time for funny business. Time flew on your shifts. Always something to do. 

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15 Years later, another fun story at Lange’s Café from Nikki Edwards

Another Lange’s story circa 1981 . . . I was back for the 10^th class reunion and there were classmates also home from a number of other years. This Lange’s Café gathering was following our tenth-class reunion party gathering in 1981. As the reunion party dispersed around midnight, my husband Jon went home to my parent’s home, and I went with a bunch of theater kids to talk some more at Lange’s.

There were about eight of us theater people that ended up at Lange’s telling stories, reminiscing and sharing what we were doing at that time in our lives. Around about 3:30am in the early morning, I got paged over the intercom at Lange’s. In all my previous years at Lange’s, I had never been paged before, even in all the years I was a teenager working there.

I went to the phone, and it was my husband Jon, he and I were married in May of 1981. He had gone home from the class reunion party when we all went on to Lange’s to talk some more. Jon was just making sure I had a ride home. After the call, the people all got a good chuckle from it, as Jon called me three hours after we had initially gone to Lange’s. Jon and I were not married then. I think I remember that Joe Keyes, Susan Lange, Mary Opland, Mary Rauk, Ginger Riffel, Sally Stager and more were all at Lange’s that night, but I am really not sure of all the people that were all there that night . . . that is a bit fuzzy. But I do remember Joe Keyes was there because he was going to be doing stand-up comedy in Minneapolis in the next few months and Jon and I went to see him perform.

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Still some more fun Lange's Cafe stories from Myrna 

Myrna Dressen Griffin Story - The Lange’s Cafe Class website pictures reminded me of the fun times I actually had there working. First year I was a dishwasher, then moved up to being a waitress my 2nd year. I guess I was in 10th grade because my mom still had to drive me to work. I did the 6-2 shift on the weekends. Debbie Litka worked with me, and we would have that juke box blaring first thing in the morning. There was a cook by the name of Loretta, but we called her Ruby. Then we played "Ruby don't take your love to town", over and over again! Ridiculous fun!

Gayle Carstensen Robinson – Oh my gosh . . . Remember when a regular of the cafe was sitting at the counter and when they would turn their head you would give them more toast and they would kinda scratch their head thinking “Now where did that come from?”  More people thought they were losing it HA HA HA😂😂😂

Carolyn Keyes Alfus - those were the days! Good memories for you . . .

Sally Curtis Gadbois - Myrna you were a rascal from day one! No wonder it's always so much fun hanging out with you!

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Sayles Walradth's Lange's Story Involving Steve Ellis and his Band