“It’s sort of like living in Mayberry.” That’s how David Tape describes his Northside neighborhood. The owner of Ruth’s Parkside Café is listing some of the changes he’s seen since the place first opened in October 2013, and his awe over the area’s community connectedness is apparent. “There was that feeling 10 years ago, but nothing like this,” he recalls. “It really does somewhat function as a village now.”
Though this year marks a decade in business for Ruth’s, the eatery’s spiritual roots go back much further to Tape’s previous establishment, downtown’s esteemed Mullane’s Parkside Café. “This was the creation of Mary Kroner and myself,” says Tape. “When I had my former restaurant, Mary was my manager and, given that we are on the mature side, we thought that if we were partners we would survive this.”
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DAVE TAPE
He says even though he bought Kroner out in recent years, the pair remain very much in the Ruth’s game together. “We’re still doing this just as if we are partners,” he notes.
Partnership, community, and friendship are all cornerstone concepts for Tape, and he recounts how even the funding for the café was a result of a special personal connection. Ruth Cummings worked as Mullane’s bookkeeper after retiring from running the old Tall Fashions on Fourth Street. “She and I became great friends,” Tape says. “I probably watched over her her last 10 years.”
A bequest from Cummings upon her death provided seed money for the restaurant. “So we named it for her,” he adds.
While it’s often been suggested over the past decade that Ruth’s is something of a Mullane’s 2.0, Tape points out that, while Ruth’s does borrow from his former establishment, there are key differences between the two places. “We feel like, probably not 50 percent of the notion of Mullane’s ever came here,” he says. “We just borrowed from it.”
He stresses that Mullane’s flexibility did inspire much of the menu. “There’s a lot of stir fries and ways to add protein of your choice,” he says. “You can put Italian sausage in or you can put tempeh in. You can put chicken in or you could put tofu in. And we also have salmon and shrimp on the menu that can go into dishes as well as regular entrees. There’s a lot of flexibility here.”
For all of the similarities, though, one huge difference is the size of Ruth’s compared to the old cozy downtown space. Tape points out that the spacious dining room at Ruth’s is conducive to the community he and Kroner sought to build around their café. “Mary and I set out for this place to really be a place of community and comfort,” he says. “We’re old-fashioned.”
Another important difference? Ruth’s, in the American Can Building, has a parking lot—a real perk in Northside. “We did consider different locations in the city, but I felt like, if we could have a parking lot, we could have people coming from all over the city.”
(Some years back, he collected 83 zip codes from customers over a two-week period for the business association, proving him right.)
Some Mullane’s character, though, is just imprinted in Ruth’s DNA, such as the commitment to providing local artists space to show their work. And then there’s the loyalty of Tape’s notably dedicated staff.
“I have the most wonderful and loyal staff anybody could ask for,” he says. “I have employees who opened with us on October 11, 2013, who are still working here. Of course, I have very loyal customers, but those loyal employees sure help to keep the loyal customers.”
One of those loyal staff members who followed from Mullane’s was Chef Kevin Worthington, who ended up leaving to open Clifton’s Gaslight Bar & Grill some years back. Ruth’s currently operates as a group effort without a kitchen manager and, as Tape says, is “very much a collaboration now. I have wonderful cooks.”
When asked about plans for the next decade at Ruth’s Parkside Café, Tape laughs and says he’ll probably keep doing what works. He mentions some ideas for the menu and bringing back daily specials, but Ruth’s is already exactly what he wants it to be: a place for the community to gather.
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