Our Story
Several years after they met on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Randy and Maggie Breidel opened River Café in Trempealeau. We're a family-oriented cafe," said Randy, a La Crosse native who has more than 20 years of experience in area restaurants as a cook and manager. He traveled to England for two weeks in June 2006 to meet Maggie in person for the first time. She in turn traveled to La Crosse for two weeks in December 2006. Maggie, who had 12 years of bookkeeping experience in England, handles bookkeeping for the new Trempealeau eatery. "We make a pretty good team" with Randy's restaurant experience, she said.
Then the Trempealeau restaurant became available and "It was about the right size," she said. The cafe can seat about 70 customers inside. "And an outdoor patio that will seat another 20" in the warmer months, Randy said. "We also like the location," Randy said, noting the eatery is on the Great River Road and close to Perrot State Park, the Mississippi River and the Great River State Trail bicycle route. "We serve breakfast all day," Maggie said, including an authentic traditional full English breakfast that includes two eggs, hash browns, baked beans, fried tomato, sautéed mushrooms, two slices of back bacon and an English sausage with choice of toast. It's served with HP Sauce imported from England.
Some other items from the breakfast menu include steak and eggs, made-from-scratch biscuits and sausage gravy, eggs Benedict, a variety of omelets and raspberry cheesecake stuffed French toast. The lunch menu begins at 11 a.m. and includes a variety of hamburgers and wrap sandwiches, as well as melts, Reuben, chicken, grilled ham and cheese and fish sandwiches. For vegetarians — or anyone else — the lunch menu also includes a black bean burger, veggie melt sandwich and a veggie feta wrap sandwich.
