Leechburg eatery takes steps to grow from cafe into full-service restaurant

A coffee shop housed in a historic Leechburg mansion — and known for warm drinks and friendly faces — has seen some changes since opening in January.

1st Street Cafe is in the building formerly known as the Addison House Restaurant & Lounge. Devra Gromley, owner of 1st Street Cafe, and her husband, John, bought the mansion that had been boarded up in 2012.

The building was once home to Addison Leech, son of Leechburg founder David Leech. The Gromleys closed on the sale in 2015 and spent years refurbishing the building’s interior.

Once she retired in 2020, Devra Gromley decided to follow her lifelong dream and turned the mansion into a cafe.

She, along with John and their two adult sons, Justin and Robbie, renovated two floors of the mansion over three years.

Gromley began by selling specialty coffee and fresh-baked goods including carrot cake, banana bread, pepperoni rolls and cheesecake.

“Coffee wasn’t enough to sustain it,” she said. “This building is too big to be a coffee shop. That’s really the truth of the matter. The plan was always to serve food as we could afford it.”

So, on April 29, the cafe began serving meals from the kitchen. Gromley hasn’t looked back since, thanks to the support of family and friends who have experience in the restaurant business. The launch of food sales went smoothly. The cafe’s coffee bar is still in full service for customers, and Gromley’s baked goods are still available.

Kimberly Bagerstock, now executive chef and kitchen manager, is one of Gromley’s longtime friends and one of the people who volunteered to cook on the first day of food service.

Kylie Bibza, another longtime friend, began by volunteering at the restaurant as well. She helped some days by cooking and now serves as the catering and events manager, front-of-house manager and head of marketing for the cafe.

“(Bagerstock) and I had previously worked together,” Bibza said. “A year and a half ago, we had separated and we were both doing our own thing. Once Devra was starting to do food and starting to get serious about it, we were like, ‘Let’s jump aboard.’ ”

Both women took the leap, quitting their full-time jobs to work for Gromley. They said the appeal of working with their friends and being in their hometown sold them on the idea.

“It was a big thing, but the possibilities here are endless,” Bibza said. “The fact that I get to work with these two — I wouldn’t change that for anything.”

The cafe serves breakfast and lunch daily, and has started to serve dinner on Mondays. Dinner service is expected to eventually be added on other days. The menu is in its “building stage,” Bagerstock said.

“We always have specials running every week,” she said. “We have specials for breakfast, specials for lunch, just to feel out our menu because everything is so simple and standard now.”

She said that as the restaurant gets feedback on dishes, more food will become consistent options on the menu.

“At the end of the summer, we’ll figure out what we sold the most of, what was most profitable and start re-creating our menu,” Bagerstock said.

A current favorite dinner special among customers is chicken marsala. Gromley prides herself in serving fresh-made, locally sourced food.

“We serve here what I serve my family,” she said.

In addition to the food and and drinks, the cafe has become an event space that hosts gatherings and offers adult and children’s tea parties. They also have begun to offer catering.

John Gromley has started refurbishing the exterior of the mansion by adding dormers. Once he’s finished, the venue’s upper patio will be reopened to offer a larger space for outdoor dining.

Devra Gromley said John will begin working on the third floor of the building at some point. The third floor still has its original tin ceiling, and Gromley has considered turning it into a speakeasy or cigar bar.

As the head of marketing, Bibza said the cafe participates in various community events to show its appreciation for Leechburg and to gain more attention for the business.

“We’re doing Mingle on Market,” Bibza said. “We’re doing Back the Blue, Gathering on Grant and we’re trying to get in Ford City Fridays. We just did Allegheny Township Days.”

They also have been meeting with local business owners and have catered for open houses of new businesses. Despite these efforts, Gromley said word has spread slowly about 1st Street Cafe.

“The biggest challenge we face is that people do not know we’re here,” she said. “Even local people don’t know we’re here.”