Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan & Sam Langseth.
Hi Ryan & Sam , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Ryan and Katie Langseth owned Daylight Donuts in Breckenridge, Colorado for seven years. They decided that they wanted to move back home and raise their family in Minnesota. They bought Dave’s by the Lake in 2003 in the Normandale Lake Office Park, changing the restaurant name to Ryan’s Cafe’ & Catering. From there a family business legacy was born. We have built a foundation that we are truly proud of. A place our staff can call home. We pride ourselves on creating an environment that our customers and staff look forward to being involved with every day. Some of our staff have been with us since the very beginning and others for multiple years. Our goal has always been to create a place that people want to be apart of, not because they have to, but because they truly want to. Through that Ryan’s saying was born, “you don’t have to be an owner to own”.
After years of being in the catering industry the Normandale Lake Office Park came to us with the idea of opening another restaurant in the park. In 2016 Cafe’ Fusion was born. It was important for Ryan and Katie to incorporate the Langseth background with original receipes passed down from generations. This is where we came up with the idea of Wood Fired Pizza, Chopped Salads, and Wood Fired Hoagies.
Our oldest daughter Samantha, decided to join the family business officially after graduating college and has grown through out the company becoming our Director of Operations, learning all aspects of the restaurant business. Being able to pass family tradition down through generations has been something truly special. Our son Griffen has also joined us in the family business. Our youngest daughter became involved in the business during Covid and is now finishing her MBA. Covid was a very challenging time for the restaurants, not only being a restaurant, but also being located in an office park where the majority of our customers became remote over night. This challenged us to switch gears and adapt. Knowing that we all came together as a team to not only survive, but grow has been extremely rewarding. We love the Bloomington community and are truly thankful for those who ordered from us during Covid. We wouldn’t be here today with out our staff, family, and community. We hope to keep growing and moving forward with each day!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As we previously mentioned Covid was a huge obstacle that we all had to work together to overcome. Not only because we were a restaurant in a time where no one was leaving their house, but both restaurants are located in the Normandale Lake Office Park where most tenants were told to work from home indefinitely. Due to the low occupancy in the park we had to close Ryan’s Cafe’ and for a while operated solely out of Cafe’ Fusion with limited staff. We were forced to evolve and market our online ordering platform. This made us heavily outreach to the Bloomington community. For the first time allowing us to focus on a whole new market. We were able to create our curbside pick up business and for a time even opened for dinner. Slowly as time went on and restrictions were slowly lifted we were able to open Ryan’s Cafe’ back up for breakfast and offer lunch at Cafe’ Fusion. In the last year we were able to open Ryan’s Cafe’s Mexicali station back up three days a week. This is where having a staff that is flexiable and able to operate at a high level comes into play. We have grown very close as a team and continue to strive for more. We are still feeling lasting effects from covid with the hybrid work schedule here to stay. Through this adverstity we have learned to lean on each other and work on growing our catering business, slowly working on expanding outside of the office park. With each day we are getting stronger and embrass every challenge that comes our way knowing our team can handle it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Ryan’s Cafe’ & Cafe’ Fusion?
We are a family operated business that strives on providing quality service and homemade food! We specialize in corporate catering, wood fired pizza, wood fired hoagies, & chopped salad. We are known for our large portion sizes and homemade fresh receipes. We are very proud of our quick service and customer loyalty. We work hard to provide a fast service knowing the majortity of our clients only have a limited time for lunch. With that being said, quality is equally improtant. We want the food to stand out and live up to our clients expectations. We work hard to provide a catering service that is time, detail, and client oriented. We get to know each client and base their catering order off of their specific needs. Each order is specifically tailored towards the event, group size, and dietary restrictions.
We truly believe that our work eithic paired with our attention to time and detail is what sets us apart from other restaurants in the area. We work hard to make sure we provide the best service possible to each and every customer. Being on time and coming prepared is extremely important. We are always triple checking our work knowing how important it is to be prompt and prepared. We are proud to know the majority of our clients and work hard to recognize our customers each and every day. With out them we wouldn’t be here!
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Ryan has been in the business for over thirty years, he grew up in the restaurant industry and has never looked back. Through that time he has had several mentors and restaurant leaders to look up to and learn from. Weather its learning how to properly clean a kitchen or manage a whole team, growth and learning is crucial in this industry. He still is great friends with the owner of Dave’s Downtown who he bought Ryan’s Cafe’ from back in 2003. They are constantly communicating about the industry and comparing notes. His daughter Samantha followed in his foot steps growing up in the industry and then choosing to professionally commit to the business after college graduation. Learning from her parents, staff, and reaching out to other leaders in the industry. Growth has been the biggest accomplishment, working hard to overcome obstacles and still persevere. Cafe’ Fusion won Best of Bloomington the last three years and also won the Diamond Award for Fast Service and Catering in 2023 administered by the Bloomington Health Department. Communication and growth is necessary in this industry to create a great work environment and team bond.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cafefusion8300.com/ https://www.ryanscafe8400.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cafefusion8300/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cafefusion8300/
