Bringing Some Southern Comfort to a Small New England Town

By Nicole Mitchell

The Everyday Café opened on October 4, 2010. The new owners Lisa and Christian Nardi bought the café when they came to Hopkinton for Christian’s 20th high school class reunion in August. Christian, a native from Hopkinton, grew up and graduated from Hopkinton High School and Lisa who is from Jackson, Mississippi met in New Orleans. The two of them moved up here on September 22, 2010 and now live in Contoocook.

When asked what inspired them to open a café, Lisa commented, “I’ve always wanted my own business and to be my own boss and Christian has always wanted a breakfast place and in New Orleans there is so much competition and it would cost five times as much and when we saw the café for sale it was too good of a deal to pass up.” The café is busier than they expected it would be with regulars who come in for their morning coffee and travelers from the interstate looking for a hot meal.

In order to cook the food, they use electric griddles, a Panini press machine, a convection oven and toasters, since the building does not have any stoves. Lisa commented that the only problem they are having right now is not having enough outlets since it’s an old building. When they first opened they would have power surges quite often while in the middle of cooking food, but now they figured out what appliances should go where to suit their needs and the buildings needs. The café only has about eight parking spots in front of the building, but there is a municipal parking lot behind the Covered Bridge Restaurant that has more parking for customers.

This café is different from the previous cafés because the new owners brought in some of the old with the new. All the tables have old pictures from the Historical Society of Hopkinton. These photos of the café are displayed underneath the glass on all the tables in the café. The new owners also changed all the décor, lighting, food, and atmosphere. This new café really shows the history of our small town and it is incorporated into the décor of this local café.