Sammy’s Ancaster serving up breakfast at new location
You may be able to take Sammy’s out of Ancaster, but you can’t take Ancaster out of Sammy’s.
After a six-month delay and two months without a restaurant, the iconic Sammy’s restaurant, which had been feeding breakfast to hungry people on Cameron Drive, opened in February in the Walmart plaza near Highway 403 on Wilson Street West.
“We’re doing OK,” said co-owner Jaced Kaleci, 28, who had to navigate a difficult, but ultimately successful plan to the new location in the former Payless ShoeSource site. “People are finding us and I’m also getting foot traffic from the nearby stores, which is great.”
Kaleci, along with his parents, Alex and Anna, owned the restaurant for 15 years at the Cameron Drive location, but decided to move to improve the business. It has been in operation for about 25 years.
The new Sammy’s Ancaster restaurant is brighter, with additional seating, improved washrooms and a more efficient kitchen. Contrary to the modern look, the new restaurant is only slightly larger at 2,700 square feet compared to the former site at 2,500 square feet.
“The other place had a lot of inefficiencies. I have been writing down things to make the kitchen more efficient for years,” said Kaleci. “We have taken it down to 10 to 15 minutes. Nobody wants to wait in a line for that long.”
Despite the move, Sammy’s loyal customers have easily found the restaurant and its signature breakfast menu.
“People feel this is their place,” said Kaleci. “They are super loyal. They know this place. My mom may not remember names, but she remembers what you ordered. People love that.”
There are other reminders that this is the Sammy’s of years past with menu specials written on the chalkboard, along with smile-inducing sayings. Framed paintings that adorned the old Sammy’s walls were reproduced in the same spots in the new restaurant.
“The paintings are exactly in the same place. The (older customers) noticed very quickly,” he said. “It’s clean, bright, the nice tiles. I wanted the quality of the menu to match the façade.”
But the menu is traditionally Sammy’s with no changes, including keeping the prices the same. “It’s pure and simple,” he said. In a welcome change, Kaleci doesn’t have to worry about parking. On Cameron Drive, one table could fill all of the parking spots. In a plaza with a nearby Canadian Tire and Walmart, parking is the least of his concerns.
“You can linger here, I don’t care,” he said.
The new restaurant is also fully accessible, with no slope to the building’s entrance, which is appreciated by older people, especially in winter. “Being accessible is a big help,” he said.
Kaleci had plans prior to the pandemic to either renovate the old Sammy’s, or relocate to maximize the business operations. The lockdowns, restrictions and safety precautions delayed any business investment, forcing Kaleci and his family to tread water to survive.
“COVID just drained me,” said Kaleci. “It cost a good chunk of change to get it going after COVID.”
Kaleci had scheduled to relocate Sammy’s in September 2021, but unforeseen circumstances kept the restaurant open at the Cameron Drive location until he was able to move last December.
“There were some things I couldn’t control,” he said. “The whole place was delayed six months. We opened two months later, which wasn’t bad.”
Since his reopening, people have flocked to the restaurant for quality food, warm welcomes from staff and a quick smile from Kaleci in the kitchen with his father, Alex.
Kaleci praised his business friends for helping to get his restaurant open.
“That was huge,” he said. “That’s a community. I’ll help them when they need it.”
Even during a snowstorm (March 10), most of the tables were occupied.
“I though it would be slow today,” said Kaleci. “But it’s busy. I really can’t complain. People have been super supportive of me and this restaurant.”