It may well be the last in-store cafeteria-style restaurant in Australia, and its customers are preparing to say goodbye.
Fitzies City Cafe will close the doors for good on August 11, saying farewell to more than 40 years of serving Launceston.
And when the doors close, the neon lights are switched off and coffee machine powered down, it will leave behind a host of memories for a band of loyal, long-term customers.
The food, the ambience, but most of all the customer service – all things Fitzies’ visitors point to for why the little cafe tucked away in Harris Scarfe is so beloved.
For the older generations, Fitzies is a last bastion of an era they remember well, when Coles and Myers also had cafeterias in-store, when customer service was the priority, and everyone knew to meet at Fitzies.
“It is the friendliest place and the girls are just wonderful, they’re always the same.
“Nothing seems to be a worry to them, no matter what you want, you get, with a smile.
“You always feel wanted when you walk in here.”
- Sisters Roma Bowman and Vassie Buchanan.
“Once it goes, it won’t come back.
“The world’s moving on, and we’re moving with it.”
- Susan Amerikanos with Ada Amerikanos, 2.
Former owner Mike Edwards sold the business to Rhonda Talbot in 2010; he remembers the days when the queue would trail out to Charles Street.
“What we’ve always tried to do here is keep continuity of standard … it’s comfort food, it’s good food and it’s cooked fresh on the premises every day.”
"I'll be sad to see it go."
