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Midvale • The Roundhouse breakfast has returned.
The hearty dish, a favorite of doctors, politicians and college students in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, has been revived at Midvale's Landmark Grill, a restaurant now owned by the youngest daughter of Nick and Connie Ligeros.
For nearly three decades, the couple owned and operated the Medical Towers Coffee Shop at 1060 E. 100 South in Salt Lake City. While Nick's, as most people referred to it, had a full menu, it was the Roundhouse — and the slightly smaller Greek breakfast — that filled the seats.
The medical employees who worked in the building were frequent customers, as were doctors and nurses who worked at Holy Cross Hospital — now Salt Lake Regional Medical Center — across the street. Hospital visitors found a home-cooked meal and respite at the cafe; and on Saturday mornings, cash-strapped students from the University of Utah knew a Roundhouse breakfast and coffee was the cure for an alcohol-induced headache.
There were downtown businessmen who came, and on occasion, so did politicians, like former Gov. Scott Matheson.
When her parents' cafe closed, it was the end of a culinary era, said MariAnn Ligeros Jessee, who took over the Landmark Grill in April, along with her husband, Mike. Part of the reason they bought the 5-year-old establishment, in a strip mall at 760 Fort Union Blvd., was to bring back the breakfasts.
"I have been wanting to buy a restaurant for about six years," MariAnn Jessee said. "I felt like my father's legacy was going to die if I didn't do something about it."
Framed photographs of her parents keep watch over the counter, while a newspaper article of her father hangs on the wall.
During her youth, MariAnn and her older sister Arlene — two of the Ligeroses' five children — worked the front of the house with Connie while Nick cooked. Jessee learned the restaurant business and the secret to her father's breakfasts — a recipe that other diners have tried to duplicate, but haven't quite succeeded.
The Roundhouse starts with a bed of hash browns, topped with ham, bacon and link sausage. It's covered with one slice each of melted American and Swiss cheese and two eggs cooked to order. The Greek breakfast — a reference to Nick Ligeros' heritage — is nearly the same, only diners get a choice of ham, bacon or sausage. At Landmark Grill, guests also can have toast or a pancake.
The only thing that has changed is the price. Back in 1980, it was about $2.25; today the Roundhouse is $9.50 and the Greek is $8.50.
On a recent morning, Charlie Paulos visited Landmark Grill with friends. "When I came in here and took a bite, it took me back 45 years," said Paulos, who had been a regular at the Salt Lake City coffee shop during the 1970s, when he was a student at the U. "It tastes exactly like I remember."
Greg Atkin also used to visit Nick's with his Sigma Nu fraternity brothers. "I frequented the place at least once a week," he recalled. "The Roundhouse and coffee were hangover medicine."
When Atkin, who now lives in Midvale near the Landmark Grill, heard of the Roundhouse's return, "I called some friends and said, 'We've got to go.'"
The Roundhouse and the Greek breakfast came about because Nick Ligeros used to make them for himself, said Arlene Pedersen, MariAnn's sister.
"People came in and saw what he was eating and asked him to make a plate for them." Eventually it became a regular menu item. The elder Ligeros even patented his Greek breakfast.
When Ligeros opened the Medical Towers Coffee Shop in the mid-'60s, it had only a few stools and booths. As the business grew, the Medical Tower owners tore down walls to add a dining room. Still, the space was small and it wasn't uncommon to wait outside in the hallway, especially on weekends, to get a seat.
Ligeros, whose trademark white shirt and chef hat could always been seen through the window that separated the kitchen from the dining room, was known to joke with regular customers and be generous with strangers, often giving food to college students who didn't have money to buy a meal.
"He loved making people happy," said Jessee, who is thrilled to continue her father's legacy. "Before my mother died, last May, I would take her with me to look at different places and she just kept telling me how proud my dad would be."
Roundhouse breakfast
MariAnn Ligeros Jessee has brought back The Roundhouse and Greek breakfasts that her father used to serve at his coffee shop decades ago.
Where • Landmark Grill, 760 Fort Union Blvd, Midvale; 801-566-3664
Hours • Daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
What • The Roundhouse includes hash browns, ham, bacon and link sausage, American and Swiss cheese and two eggs cooked to order. Choice of toast or pancake. The Greek breakfast is nearly the same, except guests get a choice of ham, bacon or sausage.
Cost • Roundhouse, $9.50; Greek, $8.50