Wampach’s Restaurant in downtown Shakopee is retro, but in the truest and not the trendiest sense of the word.

Portions are generous; the selections gloriously basic and sentimental fare – from turkey wild rice casserole to a side of green Jell-O with whipped topping, all for little more than $5.

Tiny multi-colored tiles dot the exterior of a building that has changed little since Jerry Wampach flung open the doors in 1954.

Red neon signs invite all to “COME AS YOU ARE.”

A massive arrow attached to the roof directs passers-by along First Avenue to “fine food” in the corner diner, where they can enjoy a meal, homemade dessert and coffee in “air cooled” comfort.

Here, breakfast isn’t limited to morning and daily specials come fast and furious.

Pull up a stool to the wrap-around counter, and gaze into a glass case stocked with slices of cream pie and small boxes of Cheerios.

Area restaurant directories lump Wampach’s cuisine into the category of American Home Cooking, but the label hardly does it justice.

Sure, there are the grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers and jalapeno poppers you can find practically anywhere in the suburbs.
It’s what goes into the gravy-slathered beef sandwiches, mashed potatoes, walleye fillets and chicken wild rice soup that count.
“We’re known for our onion rings and our breakfasts,” explained Mary Breeggemann, a waitress at Wampach’s since she was a schoolgirl.
Breeggemann knows her stuff and whips out platters of food from the kitchen in record time, but she won’t mind a bit if you get up to refill your own coffee – in fact, she almost expects it.

“I’ve worked here since I’ve been 13, and I’m 51,” she unabashedly announced as she tended the cash register. “I love it here. It’s like fun, not work.”
Shakopee may be growing by leaps and bounds, but at the vinyl booths inside Wampach’s it’s still a small town where waitresses call patrons “honey” or simply resort to first names.

The restaurant is just a stone’s throw from the railroad tracks and the sound of a passing train only adds to the ambiance.

Multi-tasking day in and day out, Breeggemann can belt out a rousing “Happy Birthday” song while distributing plates of chocolate cake to a trio of ladies on their lunch break.

The clientele is a mix, from thirty-somethings with kids to the elderly who may well have walked over from the senior apartments a few blocks away.
Original owner Jerry Wampach learned some tricks of the culinary trade from his father Frank, proprietor of the near-legendary St. Paul House.
A Shakopee landmark and 19th-century stagecoach stop, the elder Wampach’s restaurant burned to the ground in 1965. Jerry had been entrée manager there, until he set up his own shop right nearby.

Breeggemann recounts the transfer of ownership through the years – from the late Wampach to Chuck and Lola Mensing to Gretchen and Lauren Koehn and now Mary Johnson – with relative ease.

The waitress has seen a lot of regulars come and go, remembering them if not by name then by the food they routinely ordered: Two eggs over easy, toast and bacon or perhaps the three-egg omelet.

And for a local gal raised just across the street, Wampach’s is familiar and comfortable, a throw-back to another time. Black-and-white photos on the wall tell a story.

Pull up a chair and order a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie. It’ll set you back just $1.75.

Indulge in a meat-and-potatoes lunch platter with a dinner roll and that small bowl of Jell-O and get back change for a $10 bill.

Sodas practically refill themselves, and little on the menu or in the service is artificially sweetened.

“What I think is great about this place is how we make people feel welcome,” Breeggemann said.

Nicole Colson is a writer with the Shakopee Valley News. She can be reached at ncolson@swpub.com.

Wampach’s
126 W. 1st Ave., Shakopee
(952) 445-2721