Ed Bailes wasn’t too sure about the name at first.
“After we bought it, we did a lot of research on Rainbow Café and found out a lot of stuff,” Bailes said. “It’s the longest running restaurant in the state with the same name. Our first inclination was that we wanted to change the name. But there is no way that we can, now we know the history.”
With the name retained, the café’s new owners – Bailes and his girlfriend, Linda Carson – have turned their attention to restoring the restaurant to its former glory as the place to eat in downtown Auburn.
It’s a challenge Bailes, 45, and Carson, 49, welcome.
“If we can bring it back to the way it was, we can make a living at this,” Bailes said.
The process already has begun, Carson explained, pointing out the restored neon sign that hangs over the restaurant’s Main Street entrance.
“It’s been repainted, and the neon all fixed,” she said. “The mayor came in and had breakfast and asked if we were going to fix it. That was big thing. It’s been there a long time.”
For Bailes and Carson, the café is their first foray into the business.
Although both had previously owned businesses – Bailes in construction contracting and Carson in data entry – the couple said buying the Rainbow Café was daunting at first.
“It was a hard decision,” Carson said. “I found an ad for it on the Internet. We were kind of randomly searching for a place. We came across this, and it was close to home. We decided it had a lot of potential.”
“We looked at it for about four months,” Bailes said. “We thought about it and decided we wanted a change, something different in our lives.”
Changes in motion
Since taking over on Jan. 1, Bailes and Carson have been planning changes, listening to advice from customers and past owners on which direction to take.
Entertainment has improved, with several new flatscreen TVs adorning the walls in the dining area and bar. Two dart boards have been installed in the lounge.
“We’re going to start having a few more events in the bar area,” Bailes added. “Music, karoake, XBox Kinect, maybe a poker night.”
Carson said menu changes are coming.
“In the beginning there is so much to do,” she said. “When you get a new business, you’re just setting everything up. Right now we’re heavy on breakfast. A lot of it will stay the same, but we’re going to change the menu.”
Bailes added: “We’re going to try and go to a more healthy menu. Right now, that seems to be what people want.”
The couple also plan to remodel the dining room while keeping the flavor of the Rainbow.
“We’re just hoping to be busy,” Bailes said. “But our long-term goal is to do a bit of remodeling. We’re keeping the name, but we want to maybe feature a theme. We’ve got a lot of great old pictures that are staying.”
And the expansion of hours – the dining area closes at 7 p.m. nightly – also is on the horizon.
“We’re going to start staying open and having dinner,” Bailes said. “We want to get the dinner crowd people back in here.”
Bailes also hopes to increase business in the restaurant’s banquet room.
So far Carson and Bailes, who employ 14 cooks, servers and bartenders, say things have gone smoothly.
“It’s been what we expected, lots of hard work,” Carson said. “But everybody says they like the changes. It’s been mostly positive. Everyone likes what we’ve done.”
