Sugarfire Smoke House alumnus Matt Quinlisk is the new owner of Normandy/Bel-Nor institution Breakaway Cafe, which reopens today, February 4. The restaurant’s revival comes just two months after Breakaway appeared to have shuttered for good.

Breakaway Cafe closed abruptly in December, after operating for 30-plus years under various owners, most recently Rick and Barb Kraus. Barb passed away several years ago, and illness subsequently forced Rick to step away from Breakaway.

A lifelong Normandy resident whose family has close ties to the area, Quinlisk told SLM what Breakaway means to him. “My memories go back to when I was 10 years old when it was Andy Ayers’ place. It was just a real tiny place I used to go to with my mother and father and friends,” Quinlisk said. “It’s a real neighborhood place. When the kids have a half-day from school, they all walk up there and have lunch. It just means everything to this community.”

Quinlisk said that Breakaway’s menu of Italian and American dishes—pasta, pizza, sandwiches, and salads—will remain the same, though he does want to share a family twist on an anchovy-based St. Louis creation. “I’m going to be serving my father’s Mayfair dressing in a Caesar salad,” Quinlisk said. “Sentimental reasons. And it’s absolutely delicious. Something I’ve grown up on.”

The only changes regular customers will notice will be to the restaurant’s interiors. “There had been nothing done to the interior for the past 18 years, so we pretty much went top to bottom, did the carpeting, woodworking, and painted,” Quinlisk said. A new space has been created to allow customers to wait for carryout orders without having to stand in the main dining room. “It’s just been all hands on deck, we’ve been working so hard,” Quinlisk said. “I’m so proud of it, and I think the neighborhood is really going to be proud of it.”

Crucially, the staff will remain the same—and indeed, many of them have a long association with Breakaway. “We have the same staff that has worked there for years. Our kitchen manager has been there for 18 years, some of the servers have worked there on and off for 20 years,” Quinlisk said. He’s even been hearing from former staff as word got around about Breakaway’s rebirth. “We’ve had people who worked there 10, 15 years ago calling up, so excited, asking if there are any shifts that they can come up and cover.”

Breakaway is the only sit-down place in the neighborhood, which is just one reason why its survival means so much to its new owner and the community at large. “It’s like eating at your friend’s house,” Quinlisk said. “Everybody knows each other. Typically, the servers know exactly what the customers want.”

This is the first place Quinlisk has owned himself, after stints at Herbie’s, Balaban’s, and as general manager at Sugarfire’s Olivette branch. He said that the response he’s received from the community has been humbling. “People stopping by every day, people calling, well-wishing … it’s warmed my heart, it truly, truly has.”

Quinlisk and his team have been pulling late nights to get ready for today’s opening, but he has no doubt about why he’s doing it, or what it means for the community to see Breakaway Cafe open again. “We need it,” he said. “We’ve lost a lot up this way, but the neighborhood is coming back so strong.”