The story behind one of the most iconic cafes in the desert

Let me take this opportunity to introduce to you the owners of Don and Sweet Sue’s Café, myself, David and my partner Steve.

Welcome to the iconic Don and Sweet Sue’s Café, established in August of 1994 by Don Waite and his wife Sue, hence…..well, you get it.

Ironically, Steve and I moved to the desert in August of 1993 from Orange County, Ca.  Steve was downsized from his company as lead buyer for a large medical manufacturer, and I was suffering with MS.  We stopped in one day to this quaint restaurant and sat on the patio.  We ordered our food and Don came out and introduced himself to us.  We began talking and it felt like we had known Don for a lifetime, which became very mutual. 

We asked him about his radio advertisement music (which was the theme song to The Walton’s).  He explained that Ralph Waite, who played the father on that show, was his brother.

To make a very long story short, we became very close to Don’s family and Don very much admired Steve.  He asked Steve if he would like to learn the restaurant business inside and out and Steve took him up on it.  First as a server and later as a manger.  Don was diagnosed with cancer and in November of 1998 very sadly, passed away.

We approached Sue and asked if we could buy the restaurant and she took us up on it as she wanted to move back east with family and her two small children.

We officially became the proud owners of Don and Sweet Sue’s Café in April of 1999.

Steve and I took the restaurant from where Don had left off, and raised it to the next level.  We pride ourselves in only using the finest ingredients and food.  Most of our food is made from scratch.  We strongly believe in customer service first with the end result in everyone leaving with a smile and looking forward to coming back.

We are open 7 days a week from 6am until 9pm Monday through Saturday, Sunday 6am until 3pm.  We serve breakfast and lunch throughout those hours and dinner starts at 4pm.  We always have a daily special board with at least 5 items you may choose from.  During the summer months we have an “Early Bird” for your pleasure.  Saturday and Sunday we have a brunch special, which includes Champagne, Mimosas, soft drinks or coffee.

We have an extensive menu to choose from.  We pride ourselves on making our customers special food requests a reality.  If we have the ingredients, we will make it for you.

We can proudly and with confidence say our ½ pound hamburgers are the best in the desert which we contribute to our daily fresh ground meat.  Our extensive choice of fresh salads, our 3 egg omelets are thick and filled with whatever you choose, our wraps are a work of art, and everything is made to order.

We are widely known for our extremely generous portions.  To highlight one of our many items, our incredible pancakes are so big, they cover the whole plate.

We have the greatest staff in the desert.  I can honestly say that without reserve, because most of them have been with us for at least 10 years, with many of them over 20.  In other words they are our family, just as our customers are our other family.