Many say Dixie’s Diner is like going home after a long, extended absence. A family diner, owned by Ashley and John Eisenbarth is located in the old Sparkle Plaza. The day to day operations falls on Ashley’s shoulders, so she named the Diner after her Grandmother Dixie. Dixie is not only an important person in Ashley’s life, she is a mainstay at the facility as well. Dixie opens the restaurant every day and starts the morning prep work.
Ashley originally bought the diner from her aunt several years ago and later sold it to spend more time with her kids. About five months after the sale, the Southern BBQ place closed leaving Windham without an eatery, so Ashley and her husband John bought it back and has resumed running it as a diner. Ashley said, they have gained new customers and have lost some as well. Many of the ones she lost are older and are just not going out right now and she understands.
During the forced closure in March, Eisenbarth regrouped and turned her restaurant into a takeout business that kept her afloat during the forced closure. Ashley and her mom handled the entire take out business, themselves. A few friends and family members occasionally volunteered to help them, but it was a two-woman show.
During the closure, she was able to put a free ad on a Portage County social media page for restaurants and small businesses that were open during the closure. This brought out new customers, who claimed they didn’t know the restaurant was even there. They are now regular customers.
While closed, they remodeled the inside. The inside is now what one would refer to as farmhouse décor. They painted the walls a relaxing gray and have added some farmhouse décor pieces. Many Ashley made herself and some were gifts. They now have a logo designed by a friend that is a great depiction of her business. It now feels like a place you can linger over a cup of coffee or a large breakfast and catch up with old friends. It’s like going back home.
Although she and her husband do not reside in Windham, they have a heart for the town that Ashley’s family is from and has roots here. She loves her customers and cares about them. Ashley has a big heart and gives back to the community. She gives fire police and EMS in uniform discounts daily and has a day to honor veterans as well. Speaking of veterans, she has a room that is patriotic themed with the flags of each military branch on the wall. She has a small section that she allows local crafters to sell their wares too. The craft section is a hit and they have Bomber gear there too. She has a collection box for school supplies as well.
Their menu carries a lot of typical diner food and breakfast is served all day, every day. Some breakfast features are omelets, burritos, pancakes, and more. They have daily specials and at times she runs a burger special featuring locally grown beef from Bonner Farms. As much as she’d like to exclusively use Bonner Farm meats because of its quality, it’s not possible to do it and keep prices in line with the area and for the type of restaurant that they are. Even when they aren’t using Bonner Farms meats, Eisenbarth only uses fresh ground beef. She says, they form and press their patties and the meat is never frozen. She uses fresh meats and veggies whenever possible. They also feature a small appetites section for those who are not big eaters. A big draw is their chicken, they bought the recipe from Maruf before he left the area and she purchased all his equipment too. Their chicken is the best! at least that’s what the locals say, and I concur.
Thursday night dinner feature is steak and mashed potatoes, and Friday night is haddock dinner with fries and coleslaw. They have burgers, chicken, quesadillas, fish, and more. They use corn from the Next Generation Farm when it is in season. She shoots for as fresh as possible especially in the summer when veggies are so readily available.
They are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and they do their weekly deep cleaning then. She has always been a super neat-nick so the new COVID cleaning rules were not much of a change for them as far as cleaning goes. They have extended the height of the booths to comply with COVID rules and regulations and seat folks according to that as well. Their hours are Wednesday 7 am-2 pm, Thursday and Friday 7 am-7 pm, Saturday 7 am-2 pm and Sunday 8 am-2 pm. You can visit them on Facebook too.
They have a few things in the works for the future. One is a bar, but are waiting to see how COVID plays out before making any big changes.
How’s she surviving COVID, she said, she’s doing ok. “I have wonderful customers who have supported us and we appreciate that. She also credits her family that has been a huge help.
Hopefully, when COVID is over, she can resume her kids’ craft night. It where the kiddos make a craft and eat dinner for a set price. This is a once a month event that has been suspended during COVID. The craft usually goes with the month, for example, March, they’d make something that would coincide with St. Patrick’s Day. It was a big hit and she can’t wait until it can resume. They also had a book club that met there and a few other groups that use her diner, but all of it has been suspended due to COVID.
Dixie’s Diner located in the old Sparkle Plaza in Windham and is a great place to meet friends and family and have a great
