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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Regional Focus: June 2006
Upbeat Appeal
From 18 seats to 98, Uptown Café’s path To business of the year
Story by Patricia Kutza
He could have easily named his restaurant “George,” banking on his distinguished reputation as a chef at Sacramento’s Palomino Room and San Jose’s Sebastian’s Restaurant.
But George Karyszyn hails from the neighborhood-rich cities of New York and Chicago, so when he bought the Coffee Pot in 1996, he looked up Del Paso Boulevard, saw the downtown skyline and thought, “This place should have a name that reflects the neighborhood.” And that’s how the Uptown Café got its name, which is now synonymous with great food served in a homey, quirky environment.
By all the tenets of conventional real estate, Karyszyn picked the ideal location.
Along with Arden Way and El Camino Avenue, Del Paso Boulevard forms the main commercial section of the uptown district, an area that, prior to 1964, was the city of North Sacramento. The location also has a bit of historical cachet as part of Highway 40, a main thoroughfare between San Francisco and Reno in the mid-1900s.
By the mid-’80s, however, the district had lost much of its appeal. Any ties to its rich historical past were buried under the weight of its rundown appearance. At first, the Uptown Café was a tiny enclave. “Just 18 seats,” Karyszyn remembers. “Hookers plied the sidewalks right in front of the restaurant. Basically, the community had just given up since their needs were ignored.”
But the uptown district got a much-needed boost in 1987 when its business owners formed a business-improvement district administered by the North Sacramento Chamber of Commerce. With taxes assessed from their businesses, a variety of improvement programs were funded, including cleanup projects and a series of art projects.
These days, Karyszyn works with the Uptown Business Improvement District to keep the neighborhood looking good. “We make sure that graffiti is taken care of and [that] places like the nearby American River Parkway are clean and safe for all the folks who want to enjoy it,” Karyszyn says. He’s known as a strong supporter of the arts, commissioning much of the eclectic mixed-media collection that adorns his restaurant’s walls.
“He’s generous, welcoming and fully committed to the vision of uptown,” says Franklin Burris, the North Sacramento Chamber’s president. “George was our 2002 Chapman-Holloway businessperson of the year. In 2003, the chamber members voted his café as the business of the year.”
Burris says it was a natural choice. “The Uptown Café represents the uptown district’s entrepreneurial spirit, its artistic energy and the casual familiarity that is North Sacramento’s legacy.”
The uptown neighborhood’s renovation has contributed to the café’s success. With a current seating capacity of 98 (including the outside beer garden, replete with fish pond), the restaurant boasts a 90 percent repeat rate, predominantly serving locally based customers.
“Our customer base has really changed,” Karyszyn says. “It used to be mostly truckers and single people. Now we draw more families. I think that’s happening because folks feel safer in the uptown area.”
Family participation is at the heart of the uptown business district. “It’s a place that has many businesses that are generational and family-owned,” says Burris. “They bring a commitment to service that is often missing in today’s world.”
The Uptown Café has always been a family affair. “In the beginning, my dad was the cook; my mother and her mother, the waitresses; and his stepfather was the dishwasher,” says Karyszyn’s daughter, Tracy Mitchell, who has worked for her father since he bought the café. “I was just 11 years old then, and I did various jobs like bussing dishes. Later on I started waitressing here.”
“Waitressing” doesn’t fully convey the scope of Mitchell’s responsibilities. Customers often order based on her recommendations. She, in turn, shares their feedback with her father. “I understand my dad and we get along very well,” she says. “It is so much fun working for him. Because I am so close to the customers, I also give a lot of input into the menu.”
Unlike other restaurants that periodically do major revamps of their menu, Uptown Café has been smart enough to update their menu periodically but retain the fare that keeps customers coming back for more: the Uptown Slam (eggs, bacon and sausage); the Uptown Biscuit Benedict; catfish, fried or grilled; and the Uptown Delight, a veggie melt.
Karyszyn works in his café every day but Sunday. “I devote about 12 to 14 hours every day in this café,” he says. “Before I started this restaurant, I gave many hours to other companies and figured I just as well can spend those hours doing it for myself.”
