Kathy’s Waffle House: One of Granada’s Hot Spots
Twenty-six-year-old Kathy Perkoff claims she didn’t have any training or education to prepare her for business. As a matter of fact, she didn’t even finish high school. It’s hard to tell this when you look at her clientele this Sunday morning at Kathy’s Waffle House in Granada. The flow of people arriving to sit at the restaurant’s 15 indoor and outdoor tables increases as the morning wears on. Backpackers, Nicaraguans, foreigners living in Granada all vie for seats, a bit of conversation and hearty breakfasts at one of Granada’s biggest gathering spots.
“Today is Managua day,” explains Harlan Perkoff, more commonly known as Sandy, Perkoff’s 76-year-old husband who came to Nicaragua 11 years ago from New Orleans. He explains that people from Managua will come with their children, their families, their drivers and housekeepers. At the end of a typical Sunday, 300 people would be served by the proficient and friendly staff at Kathy’s.
The idea for starting the business, Kathy says, was simple.
“My husband’s a gringo and he likes big breakfasts and Granada wasn’t a good place for that,” she recalls. She opened the business in the building formerly used as her husband’s real estate office nearly three years ago. He used to rent the space, but they have subsequently purchased it and live there, as well.
Table for Four, Please
The couple met about 8 years ago. Kathy Perkoff was walking to her mother’s house in Granada and Sandy Perkoff, who was from New Orleans, offered her a ride. She recalls with a smile that she came from a poor family and was not nicely dressed during their first encounter. “Feo”, or ugly, she says with a grimace. Evidently her future husband disagreed, because he asked her out. Her father didn’t like the notion of her going out with a man alone, so they were accompanied on their first date – to an inauguration party and to grab a bite to eat – by her two older sisters. The sisters chaperoned the couple for the first four months of the Perkoff’s courtship. The relationship evolved, they soon began living together, and they were married nearly two years ago.
Prior to opening Kathy’s Waffle House, Kathy Perkoff worked in her husband’s real estate office. But she became bored with the slow sales times, so she decided to start a business with Sandy Perkoff. She and her husband designed the menu and set about learning and practicing how to make the dishes, which include waffles (plain, chocolate and pecan), of course, as well as pancakes, bagels, eggs, omelets, gallo pinto, fruit, and hamburgers and sandwiches.
Their restaurant soon became a gathering place for their friends, who enjoyed the warm, friendly atmosphere, the chit chat, the food. The business continues to grow, with an estimated 50 percent of the clients being Nicaraguan and the remainder foreigners either living in Granada or passing through.
Many of the regulars at Kathy’s Waffle house have nicknames. There’s Amorzito, or little love, whose real name is Chris and he just got married. There’s Besito, or little kiss, the nickname of a friendly American living in Granada. Raysito’s real name is Ray and he earned his nickname because he likes to eat small portions of everything. Both Perkoffs greet many of their guests like old friends, sharing coffee and stories.
Kathy’s Waffle House is open every day from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. While Kathy doesn’t get a day off, her staff members each take a day a week off. Kathy currently manages the restaurant and her husband helps seat customers and whatever else needs to be done. The staff has grown since the business’s inception. When she opened, Kathy served as cook, waitress and cashier. There were two other employees in the kitchen. As business increased, so did her staff, which now totals 13 and includes her sister, Rachel, who is cashier, and her brother, Luis, who works on weekends.
Sandy Perkoff explains that three former Nicaraguan presidents – Arnoldo Aleman, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, and Enrique Bolanos – have all been customers at Kathy’s.
“I’m not sure if Daniel Ortega will make it,” he says with a smile.
Kathy points to a photograph on the restaurant wall of the party for 400 people the business catered for a large company in Managua. Another photograph depicts a tattooist sporting a huge piece of body art on his torso along with the words, Kathy’s Waffle House, Granada, Nicaragua.
Not bad testaments to a business’s success for a woman who claims she lacks training.
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