East side diner Comet Cafe is back after a two-year hiatus
Owner: Historical menu items returning monthly
The artichoke melt and the baconwrapped meatloaf are back.
East side institution Comet Cafe, 1947 N. Farwell Ave., is open again after a nearly two-year hiatus, this time under new management.
Comet’s first day back Thursday came under the ownership of Pie Inc., which also operates HoneyPie Cafe and SmallPie in Bay View.
Comet, which debuted as a smoky coffee shop in 1995, was owned by Mojofuco Restaurants when it was closed indefinitely in July 2020, citing the pandemic. Initially, it closed temporarily to fix the ventilation system after complaints from employees.
Valeri Lucks of Pie Inc. first became partners in Comet with her brother, Adam, joining Mojofuco’s Scott Johnson and Leslie Montemurro from 2005 until 2015. In 2005, Lucks and her brother oversaw the expansion of Comet into a second storefront, doubling its footprint.
Around the same time, the Comet menu shifted to what Lucks called “kind of all-American diner comfort food,” and the restaurant was featured on the TV show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”
Valeri Lucks’ business partner now is Derek Petersen, the executive chef for Pie Inc., who started as a dishwasher at Comet in 2006. The chef at Comet is Logan Luebker, who also got his start at Comet when he was young, Lucks said.
Some new items have joined the menu: vegan chili cheese fries ($15) and a fried chicken sandwich ($15). And Lucks said she personally adjusted Comet’s pancake recipe.
“Adam and I back in the day had a great pancake dispute. I never liked it; he insisted it was delicious,” she said. The new version happens to be vegan, “and you’d never know it,” Lucks said. “They’re very fluffy now.”
Comet also has added a children’s menu, reflecting the changes in its longtime customers — and employees.
The restaurant is operating with shorter hours of business for now and a briefer menu, as many restaurants are because of the staffing crunch.
Diners can expect the patio to open in a couple of weeks, and takeout will begin around then, as well.
Lucks said the restaurant will begin offering daily specials and bringing back a historical menu item monthly.
Comet Cafe’s kitchen hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday; the bar is open until 5 p.m., and customers still can order pie after the kitchen closes. The full menu is online at