- Danni Rawls and her family reopened the century-old Idle Isle Cafe.
- The family restored the cafe to its original state, preserving historical elements.
- Community members expressed joy and nostalgia for the beloved Brigham City establishment.
BRIGHAM CITY — With a small crowd gathered at the entrance, Danni Rawls and her parents, Mike and Julie Ross, cut the ribbon for a reopening of a century-old staple in Box Elder County. Julie Ross says the family grew to love the restaurant over the years, after moving away to the Ogden area.
"We moved back up here, and my daughter found a new love, which is the Idle Isle Cafe," Julie Ross said. "She just kept coming in, coming in. She kept saying, 'Ah, I love that place.'"
That might help explain why Rawls jumped at the opportunity to take over when the cafe went up for sale over a year ago.
"She said, 'We have to buy this.' She said. 'We have to do this for the community. We need this,'" Julie Ross recalled.
"We wanted to go back to the original," Rawls added. "So they tore out all of the multiple layers of flooring, the multiple layers of wallpaper ... and made sure that we restored it to the original, the best that we could."
Mike Ross worked on much of the restoration himself, stripping away the floor to the hardwood that was installed in 1996. Inside, many relics of the past remain, including antique Coke soda fountains, coffee machines and citrus juicers that now serve as decorations. Many longtime customers were happy to see the establishment back open.
"We started coming here about 33 years ago," Jannie Frohm said. "We've enjoyed it. A lot of celebrations here for birthdays and events. And it's just a big part of our community that people have memories with."
Rawls says her family has received lots of support from the community through the restoration and opening.
"It's not just important to us, it's important to the whole community," she said. "We just really are grateful to be a part of it. It's a privilege."
