OUT OF BUSINESS – This is how the Grand Cafe looked on Aug. 31, 1933, after the east wall of the building collapsed during construction work on the adjoining lot. For the nine months during which the new Grand Cafe building was under construction the business operated in rented quarters at 802 Main Street.
Grand Café Celebrates 50th Anniversary
November 10, 1971
The City of Susanville, many local civic organizations and individuals joined this week in honoring Steve Sargent and his wife, Helen, owners of the Grand Cafe, 730 Main Street, for their many years of service to the community.
The Susanville City Council, at a regular adjourned meeting on Monday evening, approved a resolution commending the Sargents for 50 years of service to the public in the city of Susanville.
The resolution was read and presented to Mr. and Mrs. Sargent by City Clerk James Jeskey at the luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club at the Mt. Lassen Hotel on Wednesday noon.
The resolution called attention to the fact that for many years the Grand Cafe afforded the only dining room and meeting facility open to the public and said in part that “Steve Sargent and his wife, Helen, have by their courtesy and generosity acquired a host of friends in this city not least of which are the members of this city council and the public officials of the city of Susanville… the council congratulates Steve Sargent and Helen Sargent for the completion of 50 years of business in this city and commends them for the services and courtesies extended by them to the inhabitants of this city.”
At the Rotary luncheon Wednesday, Mr. Sargent was presented with Rotary Greeting which features a picture of Eagle Lake and the words Susanville, Calif., USA, Pretty as a Picture.
Sargent recalled that when the Susanville Rotary charter night dinner was held at the Mt. Lassen Hotel back in the 1920’s that at the last minute the chef who was scheduled to prepare the chicken dinner failed to arrive and that at the request of the Club members he prepared more than 150 chicken dinners for Rotarians and their guests.
Sargent, a native of Yugoslavia, came to the United States with two of his brothers in 1910 and settled at Globe, Ariz., where he was employed as a waiter. Later he worked in Reno and while visiting in Susanville he and his friend, Sam Vucanovich, decided to open a restaurant here.
Their first restaurant was opened Nov. 7, 1921, and was located in the basement of the Griffin Building and known as the Brunswick Cafe. Later the business was moved to its present location and the name changed to the Grand Cafe.
Sargent was married to Helen Zalac of Virginia City on Oct. 1, 1928, in Reno. In 1929, Sargent purchased the interest of his partner in the business. He recalled that in the early 1920’s there were five Chinese restaurants and that the Lassen Industrial Bank, later to become a branch of the Bank of America, had just been constructed at Main and Gay Streets. Susanville’s Main Street was not paved until 1922.
Building Collapsed On Aug. 31, 1933, at 9 a. m. the original Grand Cafe, a two-story frame structure, collapsed during construction work for a new building to be constructed on the present site of the State Cafe.
The Sargents then purchased the building site and the present Grand Cafe was erected. Unable to remain idle for any length of time, Sargent rented quarters in the building now occupied by Lassen Litho at 802 Main Street and operated the restaurant there during the nine months the new building was under construction.
The Sargents recall with pleasure the many Susanville visitors who stopped at their restaurant. Jim Mackay and Tom Blight, former owners of the adjoining Pioneer, brought Jack Dempsey to dinner several times while he was here on hunting trips.
During the years practically all of the civic clubs and organizations have held their meetings in the Grand Cafe banquet room, the first to be opened in Susanville. Local members of the American Legion no doubt have the longest continuous record—they have been holding luncheon meetings at the Grand every Friday for 40 years.
“We’ve certainly enjoyed the many years we have been in business in Susanville and the many friends we have made,” Sargent said. “The greatest satisfaction we have had is the loyalty and friendship of so many individuals and organizations.”
Both of the Sargents have been active in local civic affairs. Sargent is a charter member of the Susanville Elks Lodge and a long time member of the Masonic Lodge. Mrs. Sargent is a charter member of the Soroptimist Club of Susanville.
The Sargents have three sons. Their son, Steve, Jr., is employed as a chef in Dick’s Cafe at 22nd and Mission in San Francisco. Mrs. Sargent’s brother, Ed Zalac, is one of the owners of Dick’s Cafe. Their son, Spencer, who resides at Desert Center, Calif., is manager of a general store at Eagle Mountain, Calif. Their youngest son, George, is office manager for the California-Pacific Utilities Co. in Susanville.
