Fair Deal Cafe, White Plains
Koshy Chacko explained last week why he named his restaurant Fair Deal Café, which opened in on Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains in 1992.
When Chacko, a former White Plains resident who currently lives in Armonk, purchased the building he placed a sign outside the premises which stated, “Let’s make this a community store.”
Customers sent him their opinions on a range of topics related to his new business including what types of muffins should be baked, what they needed to serve and one person asked if he would “make it a fair deal,” Chacko recalled.
Fair Deal Café began as a grocery store and transitioned into a restaurant. After learning that Jewish military veterans wanted a place to sit so they could meet, Chacko decided to construct an addition to the building.
Fair Deal Café has extensive breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. “When people come in they say do you have that?” Chacko said. When he has told customers the restaurant did not offer something he would put it on the menu in response, Chacko said. “We’re constantly evolving,” he said. “We like to get the people involved.”
The best-selling breakfast items are omelettes, sandwiches, “American Classic,” which includes two eggs prepared in any style, bacon, sausage, ham, cheese, home fried or hash brown potatoes and toast and “Lean Breakfast,” which consists of two egg whites, spinach, turkey bacon and fruit salad, Chacko said.
Though several sandwiches are offered for lunch and dinner, his customers mostly order hot food, Chacko said. Aside from the regular lunch and dinner menus, the restaurant offers daily specials. “At least 70 percent of my customers are everyday customers. So I have to give them a choice,” Chacko said.
“Our number one seller here is salmon,” Chacko said, adding he personally goes to a local market to purchase the fresh fish. The second most popular lunch and dinner item is lemon chicken, he said, adding, “The sauce is so great.”
Another important part of the menus are the smoothies, Chacko said. His restaurant’s smoothies are made from fresh fruit and fresh juice without added sweeteners.
The dessert menu includes house-made cranberry and banana pound cakes, Chacko said.
During the midday hours his customers are generally people who come from elsewhere to work in White Plains. “But in the morning it is people who live in White Plains and in the evening people who live in White Plains,” Chacko said.
The restaurant provides catering services for wedding receptions and other events on the second floor and also has takeout catering with such offerings as cheese, hot food and wrap platters.
Chacko said the keys to the success of his restaurant are its fresh food prepared to order every day, affordable prices, his passion for the business and the work of his cook since the eatery opened, Louis Mendez of New York City.
Fair Deal Café is located at 253 Mamaroneck Ave. in White Plains. For more information call 914-946-3000, visit fairdealcafe.com or send an e-mail to fairdeal@aol.com.
