Allegany County is home to several small, well-established restaurants that attract Houghton students and community members, including 3 Bums Pizza, Ace’s Country Cupboard and the Black-Eyed Susan Acoustic Café. One of the most popular restaurants within the Houghton community, however, is only one year old: the Canteen in Angelica, New York.
The Canteen, located about twenty minutes south of Houghton, opened on June 23, 2015, and has since attracted a large customer base from Houghton. The family style restaurant and coffee shop serves breakfast and lunch, as well as several specialty drinks and ice cream. Several Houghton students can be found there on Saturdays and Sundays, and many say they enjoy the restaurant’s atmosphere for studying, as well as for spending time with friends.
“It’s a really good environment,” said Kim Logee ’17. “It’s everything you want in a coffee shop. The people who own it are really nice and welcoming.”
Tom and Lynn Murray, the owners and operators of the Canteen, never expected to run a restaurant. Mr. Murray worked for Kodak for 30 years, and following his departure in 2014, he and Mrs. Murray decided to buy the building that houses Heritage Antiques, the restaurant, and the apartment above the restaurant. At the time, the tenants in the building that is now the Canteen ran a café called Heritage House. When business didn’t work out for those tenants, the Murrays decided to renovate the full building. Once they finished renovations, they planned to rent out the space to tenants.
“We knew we didn’t want to run a restaurant,” said Mr. Murray. “We knew it was hard. Everybody told us it was hard.”
In the midst of renovations, however, the Murrays learned that much of the building was not up to the New York state fire code. During the nine months they worked to meet those safety regulations, the couple also found that Angelica locals would come off the street and give them suggestions for how to arrange the space. Eventually, the Murrays realized that if they did not have a buyer by the time the renovations were finished, they would have to run the business themselves to recoup their initial investment.
“It was really just to get it off the ground, establish some kind of presence, and see if it worked,” said Mr. Murray. “Then, we hoped to find someone who was really passionate about food and restaurants to take it over. That was our plan. We’re still here.”
The Canteen opened in the early summer of 2015 with the Murrays as both the owners of the building and the business. They are still in charge, but have put the whole building, as well as the equipment from the Canteen, on the market for someone who wants to run a café full-time. Despite their reluctance to run the Canteen for longer than a year, the Murrays have still enjoyed their experience as owners of a restaurant.
“We like farming and animals and that type of thing,” said Mr. Murray. “But we also enjoy meeting people like the locals and the students from Houghton. On the weekends, half of our clientele is from Houghton.” He added that the restaurant also often welcomes state troopers from Allegany County and travellers off the highway who find the restaurant through Google.
Houghton students go back to the Canteen for several reasons. Ian DeHaas ’17, a frequent Canteen customer, noted the coffee as a reason to visit.
“The Canteen’s coffee is mellow,” said DeHaas. “Their beans have a nice range from dark roast to light roast and the flavor is good, but overall their coffee is brewed to be mellow and relaxing. It has a very tea-like quality to it and it’s very non-acidic. It’s the casual coffee enthusiast’s dream.”
Rachel Zimmerman ’18 said the overall atmosphere, which feels like home, draws her back.
“I love the Canteen for all of its thoughtful details,” she added. “ The tables overlaid with newspaper clippings, the mason jar light fixtures, and the clear glass mugs that make every drink feel elegant.”
The Canteen is located at 40 West Main Street in Angelica, New York, and is open Friday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.