Marx Bros. Cafe says farewell to beloved customers after almost 45 years
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A favorite spot for Anchorage fine dining — Marx Bros. Cafe — is shutting its doors forever, and customers are piling onto a waitlist for one last taste.
Jack Amon and Van Hale have been the proud owners for close to 45 years.
The business partners say after announcing their plans to retire, they’ve received an influx of reservations.
Hale said the reservation waitlist has more than 150 names on it. Amon added they needed extra help just to answer the phone.
The pair are serving their final dinner at the end of August, and it seems word has gotten around.
Amon said they’ve even had requests from diners looking to fly from out of state for one last meal, but both agreed the local community has always mattered the most.
“We were the first and only restauranteurs in the Alaska Business Hall of Fame,” Amon said “That was the most meaningful of all the honors to me, because it came from here.”
With their business, the pair says it’s been all about relationships; not just with the Anchorage community but also their vendors.
Both Amon and Hale agreed the freshness and quality of their ingredients has been part of their success.
The Marx Bros. preference for quality shows in their Caesar salad. The famous dish’s recipe has never changed, but Hale upgraded ingredients to fit their standards — for example: he prefers Californian olive oil and anchovy filets, not paste.
Hale estimated over his career he’s prepared no less than 6,000 of their Caesar salads every year.
After what adds up to roughly 293,000 salads in 45 years, both Amon and Hale are ready to retire.
“We’re both in our 70s,” Amon said. “We wanted to have time to enjoy our lives while we were still healthy enough to travel and could get around.”
The pair agreed they are proud their closing is on a good note, retiring rather than going out of business.
Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.
