Running head: SUNRISE BREAKFAST SHOPPE

The Sunrise Breakfast Shoppe

The Sunrise Caf
Arthur LaBree
Culinary Institute of Virginia, School of Culinary Arts of ECPI University

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Sunrise Breakfast Shoppe

The Sunrise Breakfast Shoppe or Sunrise Caf dubbed by the locals, opened for
business on April 15, 1995. Since opening, Sunrise Caf has served many happy customers in the
Great Bridge area of Chesapeake, VA as well as neighboring cities. The owner, Ms. Veronica
McGourn, a native of the Philippines, is the original owner of the cafe and takes pride in the fact
that it is a family owned and family run business. Ms. McGourn runs the caf with her sister
Gloria who serves as the cafs manager and sister Annie oversees daily operations of the cafs
kitchen. The Sunrise Caf is a local favorite and has won several food, and drink awards in the
Best of Hampton Roads competitions of local businesses throughout the greater Hampton
Roads area. The caf was a Gold winner in 2008, Silver winner in 2009, Bronze winner in 2010,
and took an Honorable Mention in 2013.
The caf is located in the middle of a small strip mall on 222 N. Battlefield Blvd,
Chesapeake, VA, just north of the Great Bridge Locks and shares abundant parking spaces with a
number of other businesses in the mall. The entrance to the caf is a single door which leads to a
small waiting area with a bench seat. By 10:00 am on Saturdays and Sundays this waiting area is
usually standing room only with more customers outside waiting to get in. Inside, the caf can
seat a maximum of 88 people with a combination of 13 booths which seat four adults, five tables
which can seat four to six adults and a long bar counter with eight high top bar stools. They serve
approximately 200 people on a typical weekday and as many as 500 people during an average
weekend. The caf is open from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm Monday through Saturday and 6:00 am to
1:00 pm on Sundays. Their service is primarily breakfast and lunch with the exception of Friday
when they also serve a dinner from 4:30 to 8:00 pm. The inclusion of a Friday dinner was borne
from requests by customers.

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Outside the caf in the rear of the building, is where the refuse containers are located.
There is a large dumpster for normal refuse and two recycle containers which are maintained by
Waste Management and a kitchen grease container which is maintained by Valley Proteins.
There is no loading dock in the rear of the building as the entire building is one-story high
throughout. Vendors deliver goods through the rear door, which leads into the galley or deep
sink area.
The menu includes an eclectic mix of Filipino and American cuisine with daily lunch
specials being offered during the week. This mixture of ethnic cuisine has played a significant
role in the success of the caf, as their menu is based predominately on customer feedback. So
much so that it accounts for approximately 95% of the menu items. The menu is fairly extensive
for a restaurant that only provides a breakfast and lunch service. Breakfast plate prices range
from $3.45 to $9.00. The breakfast menu includes various omelets, typical American breakfast
plates, grilled items such as pancakes, waffles, French toast, breakfast sandwiches and a Chefs
choice selection of pork chops, steak and country ham dishes. The Filipino Breakfast is the
single most requested breakfast item on the menu. It consists of a Filipino sweet breakfast
sausage called Longganisa, fried rice, eggs and toast, all for $8.00. The Filipino fried rice differs
from many of its Asian neighbors with the addition of garlic to it. I have eaten this particular dish
many times and while simple in its design, is loaded with flavor. The Longganisa sweet sausage
keeps you coming back for more!
The lunch menu features a variety of sandwiches (hot and cold) such as BLTs,
cheeseburgers, tuna melts, clubs, turkey and chicken, and subs. There are also various BBQ and
Buffalo wing platters, soups, salads and desserts. Sandwich prices range from $4.00 to $6.95
with platters costing $7.50. The caf also serves daily lunch specials that are offered throughout

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the week and cost only $6.99 a lunch and includes a drink and dessert. These specials feature
traditional Filipino dishes such as chicken adobo, pancit and lumpia as well as popular American
dishes such as country fried steak, meatloaf, pork chops, chicken and dumplings, beef stew,
baked ham and BBQ sandwich. The daily lunch specials are so popular that they remain
unchanged for many weeks. Both the breakfast and lunch menu include healthier options as well
as a kids menu.
Of note, all the menu items are homemade from scratch at time of order and are prepared
entirely on the premises by the kitchen staff. The only exception to this is some of the desserts
(pies and cakes) that are purchased from outside suppliers.
Menu prices, while based on supplier and purveyor costs have remain fixed at the caf
over the last year. The owner works extremely hard with suppliers to keep food costs down or at
a minimum to maintain set prices, so that meal costs remain consistent as possible. The last menu
price increase was over a year ago and on average meal costs increased approximately $.50 a
dish.
Having frequented Sunrise Caf countless times over the years, I notice many similar
faces every time I visit. In discussions with the owner I asked her to what degree do repeat
customers contribute to the success of the restaurant. The answer was, without those repeat
customers, the caf would not be in business today. The value of repeat customers is equivalent
to the number 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. They keep the restaurant in business and she is very keen to
keeping these customers happy. She considers this the most challenging aspect of restaurant
ownership, dealing with people, customers and employees. Her approach to this challenge is to
use patience and lots of it, along with a huge smile. I also asked her what the most rewarding
aspect of restaurant ownership was. Her answer was simple, people. When her customers are

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happy she is the most happy. This is the reason why she opens the door every day to the Sunrise
Cafe.