The Day By Day Cafe was originally opened in March of 1975 by Shoreview Treatment Center and the current owner Greg Ekbom. The treatment center was located in the West Seventh Street neighborhood and had a need for a catering facility. The treatment center also wanted to start a cafe for the recovering community, which would also provide a location for work therapy for the residents of Shorview Treatment Center.
The first location was a vacant dining car at 603 West Seventh Street several blocks from the treatment center. The treatment center leased the space and offered the job of management/partner to Greg Ekbom who was then in an outpatient program at Shorview Treatment Center. Greg had recently graduated from a cooking program at 916 vocational technical college which is now known as St. Paul Community College
Shorview Treatment Center went out of business in 1978 and Greg Ekbom took over on his own. In 1980, Greg moved the restaurant to its current location at 477 West Seventh Street. It has expanded several times over the years, including building an addition from the ground up in 1996 called the “library.” The library which has one wall lined with books and the other wall of big windows looking out at the patio and koi pond. The library is usually the favorite place amongst the customers, unless of course the patio is open on a beautiful day. Day By Day continues to hire people in recovery and to be a place for recovering people to come to, in addition to being a restaurant for the neighborhood and beyond.
The cafe is currently being managed by Gena Ekbom, Greg’s daughter. John Ekbom, Greg’s son, has become a jack of all trades in the restaurant and beyond by maintaining the buildings and equipment. The hope is that the cafe can go on for many generations to come, hopefully with Greg’s grandchildren, Adrianna, Jasmine and twins Gavin and Gabrielle.
DAY BY DAY HISTORY…
July 8, 2011 By 4 Comments
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[...] all day – score a table in the library or patio if you can. To-die-for caramel rolls. Read their history; I like that they hire people in recovery. We all need a leg up once in a while. Cash or check [...]
Hi, Day by Day Cafe and the Ekbom’s family,
I’m totally impressed by the interior of your restaurant. Today my husband and I walked in the first time and I was attracted by everything in there. End up we sit at the Library, and looking forward to sit outside at the Patio next time. Also the booths along the window facing the street also a very nice spot, we will try later. Have to mention about your collections, too. I really love the books, all the wall decoration, old stove, old jukebox, and the old cigarette machine.
I can feel there are some history about the restaurant, so I asked a waiter about this building. I thought it’s used to be someone’s home, somehow it feels very much like a home. However, the young waiter he just spending his third week working here, doesn’t really get to know everything, but he did told me about some people from A-A program would come visit sometime. So I looked up this website and found the history and the story behind your restaurant.
Nice works, wish to come again soon.
Cheers
Julia
Our family was looking for a place to have breakfast before heading out for the day on our annual Apple Orchard trip. My daughter found Day by Day Cafe and so we decided to give it a try! We LOVED it!! What a great place. We were able to sit out on your patio and enjoy a wonderful breakfast!! I will highly recommned to everyone that is looking for a great breakfast!! Did not know at the time, but found out through a friend at work that some or all of your employees are either recovering alcohlics or addicts… how neat is this!! As of this writing, my husband of 32 years is celebrating his 539th day of sobriety!! We are a changed family because of this. Will keep all of you in our prayers that all will be able to lead clean and sober lives!! We will definetly be back!! We live a bit of a distance from Day by Day but we will not let that stop us!! Again, thanks so much for the wonderful experience!! God Bless!!
Thank you for the nice comment. We now accept Visa/Mastercard!!