By MINDY KEPFIELD

Staff writer

The coffee pot is on and the breakfasts and burgers at Edward’s Café apparently can’t be beat.

The restaurant had its soft opening this past weekend during Old Settlers Day celebrations and has seen a steady stream of visitors — including a near capacity crowd on Saturday.

“The burgers are great,” said Tiffany Rose, who just started at the eatery in the old Pizza Hut building at US-56 and Eisenhower Dr. 

Edward’s is the “public service project” of Mike Beneke, a feedlot owner who purchased the building for $24,000. Marion resident Kim Young is manager and her boyfriend, Joshua Hauck, is chief cook.

Young is happy with the support the community has shown the business.

“I just love it,” she said, looking around the freshly decorated dining room.

Friday’s nearly 70 customers paid for their breakfast items and burgers with donations, Young said. Edward’s now has both a menu and servers are able to take debit cards.

Rose says many of Edward’s early visitors appreciate having somewhere to go for a cup of morning coffee.

“We get a lot of people who come in to have coffee and toast,” she said.

Young said she plans to keep Edward’s open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. most weekdays.