The Winlock Eggspress Cafe is located at 202-A NE First Street, in Winlock.
Owners Andrew Mullen and his Wife Dawn Mullen are seen inside the Winlock Eggspress Cafe in Winlock.
The Winlock Eggspress Cafe is located at 202-A NE First St. in Winlock.
Owners Andrew Mullen and Dawn Mullen are seen inside the Winlock Eggspress Cafe in Winlock.
“We have the best Eggs Benedict in Washington,” owner Andrew Mullen said, “... We’re willing to take on that challenge.”
WINLOCK — In many restaurants, costs are cut through the use of genetically-modified produce and the products of factory farms.
However, that is not the case for the Winlock Eggspress Cafe. With plenty of fresh and organic options, the restaurant on NE First Street continues to thrive in this small south Lewis County town after opening in 2016.
“Serving fresh produce and organic items and cage-free eggs is expensive,” said owner Andrew Mullen. “Sure, we could offer lower quality foods or non-cage-free eggs or items with high fructose corn syrup, but it wouldn’t meet our ethical guidelines.”
The restaurant owners also chose the animal-friendly route of obtaining meat by going through Hill’s Premium Meats located in Oregon. The company is family-owned. Its products contain no fillers and are 100 percent gluten-free. All of its livestock is naturally raised without the use of hormones, drugs that mimic hormones and antibiotics.
“We try to source everything locally,” said Mullen. “The welfare of plants and animals is important to us.”
The restaurant owner also noted that the cafe has a variety of choices pertaining to multiple diet preferences ranging from vegetarian to ketogenic and many others.
“We try to cater to everybody,” Mullen said. “We do our best to stay away from GMO foods, and we make sure we don't serve anything with ingredients we wouldn’t ourselves be proud to eat.”
One might think because a restaurant uses only fresh produce and non-GMO foods that there might be expenses passed along to customers. That’s not the case for the Winlock Eggspress Cafe as it offers a rotating “$5 Deal” special for its customers, Mullen said.
“We don’t make any money on our $5 deals, but we feel it is important to do this for two reasons,” said Mullen, “... We want to be able to serve everyone in our communities with high quality foods even if they can’t afford to eat out generally, and we hope it increases traffic and awareness of our business with the hopes of future sales.”
Even with the restaurant's wide variety of choices, there is one menu item that “stands out to visitors from around the world.”
“We have the best Eggs Benedict in Washington,” Mullen said, “... We’re willing to take on that challenge.”
The diner opened in November 2016 with only about 10 items on its menu. Although its offerings have since been updated, the restaurant hasn’t moved away from its foundation of fresh ingredients and affordable food.
“We don’t use microwaves or can openers,” Mullen said. “We do everything from scratch.”
Since the opening of the business, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the Eggspress Cafe. From the lack of blueprints for the 115-year-old building, to the much needed renovations they had to make before opening, the business opened three months later than expected.
“The only thing that was here when we started was the floor,” said Mullen. “We had hoped to be open in July (2016) but there were lots of delays.”
The Mullens made a careful choice as to where they wanted to open their business.
“The reason why we chose Winlock, is that it is smack-dab in the middle between Seattle and Portland,” said Mullen. “Winlock didn’t truly have a restaurant dedicated to breakfast.”
Beyond visiting the restaurant, Mullen said the town of Winlock itself provides a lot for visitors to see and do.
“It’s worth the trip to Winlock to enjoy our bright, clean atmosphere, great staff and wonderful food,” said Mullen. “We want to see the town grow and thrive. Winlock has some good things to offer.”
