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By ERIN MATHEWS

Salina Journal

Bayard's Cafe, known for its all-day breakfast menu and homemade pies and breads, is expanding to a second location on Broadway Boulevard.

The business celebrates its 25th year this year at 2301 N. Ninth, and plans are to open a second location at 540 S. Broadway by March 1, co-owner Lisa Bell said.

While Bayard's operates 24 hours a day in its north location near the Ninth Street entrance to Interstate Highway 70, the new south location will be open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, she said.

"For now, we're expanding and we'll just see what the future brings," she said.

Bell said one goal of the new location is to expand on the restaurant's local customer base and establish steady business year-round. She said at the north Bayard's, which attracts a lot of interstate travelers, business slows down in January and February because there are fewer people on the road.

She said work to convert the former China Nest restaurant into the south Bayard's has been under way for two or three months. A 16-foot wok grill was removed from the kitchen, and hot and cold food bars were replaced with a waitress station near the dining area, she said.

"We've been here 25 years, and you forget all the little details that need to be attended to when you first start," Bell said. "It's been an eye-opening experience."

Space for parties, too

At first, she said, the new restaurant will seat about 76 people, until remodeling is complete on a back room that will nearly double the seating capacity. Bell said the back room will be available to reserve separately for large groups or parties.

Bell said she plans to stay at the north Bayard's while her brother, Kevin, manages the new location.

She said she and Kevin grew up in the restaurant business, while their father, Billie Bell, owned Salina eateries known as B.Bell and Union Station. They chose the name Bayard for their restaurant because it is a name that has been passed down in their family, she said.

She said 2013 will be the 50th year of restaurant service in Salina by Billie Bell or members of his family.

"I spent many nights sleeping on cots in the B.Bell when I was a kid," she said. "My dad would pack us lunches before we walked to Sacred Heart, and we had the best food in all the school. We were known for our lunches."

She said some of the recipes served at Bayard's were her father's, including the homemade noodle recipe. She said Bayard's serves a wider variety of pies than her father's restaurants did and has become known for its pies.

"We have people coming from all over to take our pies home with them," she said.

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