Junction Deli reopens with new name and menu
The reopening of the Junction Deli as LK Cafe at the Junction Deli on Nov. 11 was a smashing success.
Tolbert and Kaysee Lukacs and LaDana Maurin (Kaysee’s mom) are the new owners of LK Cafe at the Junction Deli and are excited to bring new and exciting menu items to the community.
The family-owned and operated business will also include their children and friends working in the cafe.
Kaysee feels that reopening a cafe in the Junction Deli location is God-ordained.
“God has prepared us to be able to bring in something into our community that everyone will enjoy,” said Kaysee. “That is also why we decided to bring Penn State Creamery into the business; people really like it and will enjoy having ice cream from there. We are hoping that it is something that everyone wants and enjoys.”
Other local food vendors that will provide food for the cafe include bakery items from Valdiserri’s Bakery in North Belle Vernon, freshly baked bread from the Brown Bear Bread Cafe in Pittsburgh, Penn State Creamery Ice Cream from the Berkey Creamery in Penn State and coffee from Prestogeorge Coffee & Tea, Pittsburgh.
“We are trying to bring a flair of the city and popular places around to little Greene County,” said Kaysee. “We are pulling from all these places to give someone something great, so they don’t have to go to Pittsburgh.”
Food served at the cafe will include made-to-order butter-seasoned panini pressed breakfast and lunch sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads.
“They will be able to pick their bread, meats, vegetables, toppings and dressings,” said Kaysee. “We will have baked goods, hoagie rolls and pizza brought in from a local bakery. We are also a full coffee shop and will have lattes, iced coffees, cold brew, tea and boba.”
In addition, they will have smoothies, smoothie bowls, ice cream, milkshakes and grab-and-go items.
Items on the menu will be affordable and fit into the community nicely. They will have daily specials starting in December.
“We decided to keep Junction Deli in the name because it has been here for 70 years, and everyone knows the name,” said Tolbert.
The Junction Deli has been closed since 2008.
“We are related to the owners of the Junction Deli building through marriage,” said Tolbert. “We had the LK cafe open in Southpointe, and they mentioned they didn’t want to sell the building and wished someone would rent it and put a bakery or something in it.”
Tolbert said it all kind of fell into place from there. They closed the LK Cafe, leased the building, got a loan to help with the remodel and got to work on restoring the rundown building.
“It was leaking on the inside, so we had to start on the foundation and work our way up,” said Tolbert. “We had to fix the leaks and replace rotten wood. Then we started from the ground up, redid the whole subfloor and put in new windows and doors. We made it beautiful. The remodel took six months to complete.”
The new location seats 45 people and is decorated in neutral shades.
“We have decorated in all natural and neutral shades,” said Kaysee. “We wanted it to be very welcoming, so it has tan walls and natural colors.”
Kaysee and Maurin both own a few nail salons, and Tolbert is involved in real estate and some other businesses, so together, they will oversee the business in the beginning until they feel the manager can handle the production on their own.
“We will still have a huge part in making sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to do,” said Maurin.
Tolbert said the business should pretty much run itself with all the help they have hired, and the owners will handle mostly the checks and balances of the business or any serious problems that come up.
“We will be here as much as we need to,” said Maurin. “But we are hoping that we have such a great team coming in, and we hope they are efficient enough to run the cafe flawlessly. We just want to be a blessing to others.” Visit facebook.com/lkcafe for more information.
Hours of operation are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.
The LK Cafe at the Junction Deli is located at 2061 E. Roy Furman Hwy. in Carmichaels.