By ADAM STEWART

Staff writer

Gretchen Unruh, owner of Gretchen’s Taste of Heaven bakery and restaurant, was told less than a month ago that she would have to move her business from its location in the former Mom and Dad’s Café, 113 S. Freeborn St., Marion, at the building owner’s request.

“Everyone in town has rallied around her, wanting her to stay open,” waitress Bonnie Samuelson, Unruh’s daughter, said. “Marion can’t live without her baked goods. They’ve already tasted them once.”

Several customers said Tuesday that the restaurant is a good place to meet and socialize in the morning.

“A place like this is very important for any community,” customer Jerry Kline said.

“Where is the coffee crowd supposed to go when everything is closed?” customer Wanda Hamm added.

Her customers have nothing to worry about, Unruh said Thursday. She plans to reopen the restaurant in a different location.

“I’m not going to give up,” she said.

Unruh hasn’t settled on a location yet. Many of her customers have urged her to move into the former Stone City Café building at 211 E. Main St., Marion. She also has an offer to move the restaurant to a location on U.S. 56.

She said she would have liked more notice that she had to move her business, but starting at her current location was good for her. Unruh hadn’t operated a restaurant before, but her experience at her current location gave her confidence in her abilities.

“I’m not going to let this get me down,” she said. “This proved to myself that I can do it.”

Her current location has also provided her lessons about what she wants in a new location.

“I like the way this place is open, where I can talk to my customers,” she said.

That is a feature she hopes to have when she reopens elsewhere. She also plans to have a bigger restaurant and menu. A basic lunch menu, Friday and Saturday evening steak dinners, and a Sunday lunch buffet are all in the works, Unruh said. But behind it all, she wants to continue to focus on her home-style food.

“People seem to love the food we grew up with,” Samuelson said.