Business as Usual

It’s the county’s oldest restaurant, a place born of the railroad, a place where presidents have dined. Now, the historic Saugus Cafe in Santa Clarita has been purchased by two veteran employees, adding a new twist to the diner’s 112-year history.

In June, longtime waitress Gaye Libby and longer-time bartender Alfredo Mercado bought the 24-hour San Fernando Road eatery after a combined 26 years working behind its counters.

Their unlikely partnership, forged over time through shared Lotto tickets, dirty dishes and endless cups of coffee, delighted employees and longtime patrons who cringe at the thought of drastic change coming to their beloved diner and bar.

“I’m thrilled that we won’t have any strangers coming in and trying to yuppie the place up,” said waitress Marilyn Sluka.

“We get people who tell us about coming here in the ‘30s and ‘40s and ‘50s. They’ve been coming here all their lives and they like the consistency.”

“Gaye and I have been friends since she started working here, and it’s nice to see Alfredo go from busboy to bartender to owner,” said Gail Johnson, who began her career as a waitress at the Saugus Cafe as a teenager more than 20 years ago. “It’s a like a family here. We have fun.”

Libby and Mercado, neither of whom previously owned a business, say they used to kid about pooling their resources and opening a place of their own. At some point the kidding gave way to serious discussion, and they even began to scout the neighborhood for potential locations.

To their surprise, in June they learned that the opportunity they sought was right under their noses.

“One night the landlord called me and said ‘The place is for sale. Are you guys serious? OK, meet me at 7 a.m. tomorrow,’ ” said Libby.

“We didn’t even think twice. We just said yes,” Mercado added. “My wife still can’t believe it. She thinks I still just work here.”

Mercado, a native of Guadalajara, said his debut as a business owner came the same month he was sworn in as an American citizen. Married, with two young children, Mercado said he has been touched by the encouragement offered by customers since he and Libby bought the cafe.

“This is all the work I’ve ever known. I am comfortable here,” Mercado said. “Everyone has been so nice. They are really happy for us, and that is a good feeling.”

Libby, who is married and has four grown children, said she appreciates the cafe’s role in local history. Much of that history is steeped in the lore of Hollywood film stars whose black-and-white photos adorn the walls.

Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, John Wayne and John Ford all ate there, according to the late local historian Jerry Reynolds. The cafe provided a backdrop for numerous films and television shows, including “The Grifters,” “Boys on the Side,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “Melrose Place.”

Marlene Dietrich filmed “Seven Sinners” behind the restaurant in 1938.

Many patrons ask about a tale that James Dean ate his last meal there on his way to the traffic accident that killed him near Cholame. It wasn’t there, but at a Castaic Junction restaurant named Tip’s, now closed.

“You’d be amazed by how many people ask about that. We’ve had a lot of movie stars, but James Dean is the first thing people want to talk about.”

The Saugus Eating House was little more than an annex at the northern end of the depot when it was established in 1887 with the opening of the Saugus train station.

Four years later, while on a whistle-stop reelection campaign, President Benjamin Harrison ate there. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt consumed a New York steak at the restaurant which he deemed “splendid,” according to Reynolds.

In 1905, the diner was moved across the Southern Pacific tracks to roughly the spot where it stands today. In the next decade it was enlarged as the area became popular with Hollywood film crews making the earliest silent westerns.

In the decades since, the cafe has been renamed and remodeled and has seen its share of owners. Lest there be any confusion, Libby and Mercado have changed the name again--to the Original Saugus Cafe.

Much more than a Hollywood hangout in the Santa Clarita Valley, the Saugus Cafe is a place locals like Rey Cantu say they can depend on for a good, reasonably priced meal, served by a friendly face. With suburbia quickly encroaching, loyal Saugus Cafe customers say those characteristics are an increasingly rare combination in Santa Clarita.

“Here, I know all the people and we joke around,” Cantu said. “They make you feel welcome.”