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Oracle Patio Cafe owners Maggie Miller and David and Stacy Raneri welcome all to celebrate the cafe’s anniversary.
By John Hernandez
It is hard to believe but the Oracle Patio Café will be one year old in May. To celebrate their first anniversary, the Patio Café is bringing back Band Night.
The event will be May 11, 2013 from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $25 per person and seating is limited so tickets must be purchased in advance. Admission includes the show and dinner which will be an American BBQ Buffet.
The buffet will have BBQ baby back ribs, chicken, cole slaw, ranch style beans, green salad and cobbler. It is a BYOB event. The Patio Café will have a Band Night once a month which will include a special dinner menu.
They are also celebrating a little bit of history by having the Mother Cody Band perform live in the courtyard. Former owner and restaurateur John Wasley said they took the band’s name from his former restaurant.
The colorful building has been home to at least four restaurants in its history. In 1978, a group of friends including Wasley, Jim Kelly and Ellie Reed bought the building and turned it into Mother Cody’s.
While deciding on a name, restaurateur John Wasley said that if you are going to have a restaurant with home cooking, you have to have “mother” in the name. The group was also involved in organizing the Oracle Historical Society at the time. They had learned of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s ties to Oracle and Mother Cody’s was born.
Some of the people that worked there and are still around Oracle include manager Nancy Barry, beverage manager Cinnamon Schieck, Tommy Thompson, and June Rettig. Before the patio was built in the back, Darrell Klesch built a fire pit where the fountain now stands.
The restaurant had a beer and wine license which was part of the Monkey Wrench Corporation. Parties were held in the back and it became a popular and fun place to be.
Mother Cody’s was later sold to George and Sharon Richmond. They turned the area in the back of Mother Cody’s into what they named Pa’s Out Back. They would have entertainment including music and one of the first plays performed by SPATS “Ten Little Indians” was held there. The restaurant would close down and someone tried to open a Mexican restaurant in the building but it did not last long.
Head Chef and owner David Raneri says the restaurant is doing well. “We are happy with the support we get for all the different specials and our very playful menu,” he said. “People are willing to try it and like it. We have been successful with our four course dinners that we have had on Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter.”
Raneri said it was important that the community made it theirs and supported it. “We would like to thank everyone that has embraced the Patio Café,” he said.
The Patio Café is located at 270 E. American Avenue. For more information about café visit their website, oraclepatiocafe.com, or call (520) 896-7615.
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