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Employees at the new Faye cafe in Murphysboro prepare orders on Friday morning. The establishment is currently only doing drive through breakfast service.
MURPHYSBORO — When Amy Mills grew up in Murphysboro, she says businesses lined Walnut Street. Mills is helping return businesses to Walnut Street with her latest restaurant.
Faye, a new all-day coffee shop is opening at 1616 Walnut St., on the corner of Walnut and 16th streets. The restaurant is serving food through its drive-through and hopes to open to the public sometime next week.
The building itself has some history. It was once home to the oldest car dealership in town. When the Tri-State Tornado hit in 1924, the building was partially destroyed.
The new Faye cafe in Murphysboro is currently serving a limited breakfast menu featuring biscuit sandwiches, crullers and coffee.
While Mills was looking for other revenue streams for 17th Street Barbecue, the dilapidated building came up for sale, and they bought it. At the time, the building was in poor shape.
The goal in restoring the building was adding a sauce factory and café, but also returning a piece of the past to the business district of Murphysboro.
“We bought the building eight years ago and it has been lovingly restored,” Amy Mills, owner of the new café, said.
The building was not just restored; Mills said it was brought back to its former glory.
The name of the café is a nod to both the past and future of the Mills family. It is named after both Mills’ grandmother and her daughter, both named Faye.
Her grandmother – lovingly referred to as Mama Faye – made indelible contributions to 17th Street Barbecue through her sauces. They are a Mills tradition that started in the 1930s in Mama Faye’s home kitchen and continued at the barbecue restaurants.
“She was a Depression-era widow who made and sold barbecue sauce. She was a incredible inspiration to me and my nine cousins,” Mills said.
That same care is continued in preparing the food at Faye.
The menu offers a unique experience for breakfast, featuring hand-made buttermilk biscuits. The biscuits are served as sandwiches with 17th Street’s pimento cheese with choice of eggs, bacon and sausage or with artisanal butters.
The menu also includes a strawberry crueler and several types of cookies, as well as a variety of coffee drinks.
“We’re trying to make everything special,” Mills said.
Everything served at the café is made by hand. Even the syrups to flavor the coffee are made in-house. The coffee is from Onyx in Rogers, Arkansas.
“They are an award-winning roaster,” Mills said.
She said they are not offering a lot of flavors, but are trying to create an authentic coffee house vibe and style.
“We want you to taste our delicious coffee and want our syrup to enhance the flavor, not cover it up,” Mills said.
Once side of the interior will be café with tables and chairs and an eating space along the front window. The other side will be a retail space. It will offer grab-and-go foods like salads to take with you and a variety of gourmet foods and equipment to purchase.
The gourmet foods will be things you can’t find anywhere. They will feature a variety of Onyx coffee and tea, specialty sea salts, chocolates, pasta, pasta sauces, bowls, items for making cocktails and more.
A variety of gourmet and specialty items will be for sale at the new Faye café in Murphysboro.
The building itself pays homage to days gone by. In the look of old business buildings, the name Mills is featured on the outside of the building.
Signs for the café will be designed like old automobile signs. The signs are ordered and will be installed later.
The facade of the new Faye cafe features the Mills family name.
The interior design is based on a 1953 Edsel Woody Wagon. It features wood table tops with white legs. The upholstery is reminiscent of the Woody Wagon with a coral and light brown tweed. The coral and light wood is used again on the bar, walls and floor.
The front of the building is full of windows to bring in natural light. Mills said a couch and chairs will be put on the retail side of the café.
On the east side of the building, they have a patio that will have three fire pits.
Mills said some evening events are planned that will require reservations.
Faye is currently open at the drive-through from 6 to 11 a.m. More information is available on Facebook and Instagram pages, including updated hours.
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Marilyn Halstead is a reporter covering Williamson County.
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Employees at the new Faye cafe in Murphysboro prepare orders on Friday morning. The establishment is currently only doing drive through breakfast service.
The new Faye cafe in Murphysboro is currently serving a limited breakfast menu featuring biscuit sandwiches, crullers and coffee.
A variety of gourmet and specialty items will be for sale at the new Faye café in Murphysboro.
The facade of the new Faye cafe features the Mills family name.
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