Cabalar Sets Opening Date

Cabalar sets August 23 as their grand opening date at West End Market as property owner Adam Davis shares his enthusiasm for the new use of the space. Meanwhile, Hush Money Bikes asks Cabalar to put biscuits and gravy back on the menu. Reprinted from lancasteronline.com.

Read the original article with photos on lancasteronline.com.

Cabalar will debut next Friday in a new, larger space at West End Market in Lancaster city that will more than triple the burger restaurant’s size.

Cabalar’s move from 325 N. Queen St. to a newly renovated space at 501 W. Lemon St. will complete the transformation of the former Huber’s West End grocery store building into a new neighborhood hub that already includes Hush Money Bikes.

Spurring the redevelopment project was Adam Davis, chief executive officer of Lititz-based events staging company Tait. Davis bought the property in April 2021 with his wife, Tracey. With the arrival of Cabalar, Davis said he feels he’s found the right local entrepreneurs to fulfill his vision of turning a grocery store with a storied history into a creative hub that could inspire future development.

“We’re incredibly excited for the opening of Cabalar at West End Market,” Davis said. “When we set out to revitalize the West End Market, it was really around a vision and mission of how to enhance the community in Lancaster. And it comes from a place of fundamentally believing that a creative culture can do great things for a community with long-lasting implications,” Davis said.

Davis described Steve Cabalar, owner of his namesake restaurant, and his team as “artists at the highest level” for the food they make, likening them to Tait employees who create elaborate productions for touring artists. And Davis credited the owners of Hush Money Bikes for helping him realize his own vision for West End Market while using programs and events to create a vibrant community around their retail bike shop.

“I really do believe that creative culture can have a long-term impact on communities. What makes both Cabalar and Hush Money perfect tenants to drive that vision is the way they bring different communities from all over the county together,” Davis said.

The Davises spent $1.01 million to buy the property in April 2021. Davis declined to comment on the cost of the renovations that put in all new kitchen equipment, restaurant furnishings and created a second-floor event space as well as a new outdoor patio.

Steve Cabalar also declined to comment on the cost of the renovations. He said the new space allowed him to design the kind of restaurant he always wanted and the partnership with the Davises has set him up to be successful.

‘We’re stoked’

Since it was purposely designed for him, Cabalar said the new space represents a big step up from his current location. Instead of having to work around size and space limitations, Cabalar said he has been able to help design the kind of restaurant he has always wanted.

“From, from top to bottom everything is well thought out,” he said.

In its new spot, Cabalar will have total inside seating for around 200, as well as room for 60 on the patio. In all, the new space offers more than triple the size of its current location where Cabalar opened in 2018.

Cabalar said his namesake restaurant will continue to offer a menu of burgers and sandwiches made from meat processed in house. Cabalar will continue to sell raw meat from its own meat case.

Cabalar doesn’t offer table service but instead will have customers place their own orders and then be alerted via a buzzer when their food is ready. Beer and cocktails will be ordered separately from a walk-up bar; those alcohol sales are made possible because of a restaurant liquor license Cabalar bought from the Davises.

“We’re stoked,” Cabalar said. “It’s just growth for us. We’ve been trying to find a great space to grow in to. The efficiency of it is great. It’s just exciting to expand. It’s kind of like what our restaurant should have been.”

Cabalar’s move will make room for Chellas Arepa Kitchen to open its first brick-and-mortar location at Cabalar’s former 325 N. Queen St. home. Chellas, which offers Peruvian and Venezuelan fare, will continue to operate a food trailer at 1830 Hempstead Road, near Costco and Lowe’s.

Chellas owner Luis Quiroz said he did not yet have an opening date for the new Chellas location.

Renovation recalibrated

Huber’s West End Market was started in 1960 by Arthur Huber and then taken over in 1972 by his son and daughter-in-law, Glenn and Dee Huber. It occupied roughly 2,000 square feet at the front of the building at 501 W. Lemon St. In 1989, the Hubers took over the adjacent market, West End Farmers Market, which had operated since 1954 out of what had once been a Dodge-Plymouth dealership. The extra space was used mostly for storage.

In 1999 Huber’s was used to film some scenes for “Girl, Interrupted,” a movie starring Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder. The scenes shot inside the market did not make it into the finished movie but appeared in an extended cut.

After the property was sold to the Davises and the grocery store closed in April 2021, the owners of The Horse Inn in Lancaster city said they would take over operations of the market as they developed and expanded it. But those plans never came to fruition.

“Like all development I’ve ever been involved with, it has its twists and turns,” Davis said. “But we’re incredibly thrilled with this partnership with Steve because I believe that Steve Cabalar and his team are just artists at the highest level.”

Thanks to Hush Money

The seeds of Cabalar’s arrival were planted in late 2022 when Hush Money Bikes moved its bike shop from 237 N. Prince Street to the back part of the former Huber’s West End Market building when it was still largely unfinished. As Hush Money built out its roughly 3,000-square foot shop, its owners were also charged with helping fulfill the Davis vision for the rest of the 10,000-square-foot building.

Cabalar said he knew the Hush Money Bikes owners when they worked at The Common Wheel, a nonprofit bike shop near his Queen Street restaurant. After doing some pop-up events at Hush Money, Cabalar recalls that the bike shop’s co-owner, Ted Houser, pitched him on the idea of moving to the building.

“Our recruitment of Cabalar to West End Market is part of our long-term plan,” Houser said. “Phase one was to convince Cabalar to move in beside us. We claim victory. Phase two will be to convince them to put biscuits and gravy back on the menu. We’re still working on that one.”

A handshake agreement kicked off the partnership that led to the extensive renovations of the building, which retains the old white and black tile floor as well as the former meat case for Huber’s, which will now be stocked with Cabalar hats, T-shirts and other merchandise.

On the question of biscuits and gravy, Cabalar was noncommittal, saying that they could possibly be part of a takeout breakfast window he eventually plans to open on Mary Street or else just something offered to the broker of his new location.

“We might make it just for Ted,” Cabalar said.