MANSFIELD – Lexington resident Ray Collier believes breakfast can and should be enjoyed at any time of the day.
“Sometimes when you’re hungry, you want breakfast food, and sometimes there’s that hunger that only breakfast will satisfy,” Collier said.
With the intention to bring fresh, quality breakfast and other foods to Richland County, he and his significant other, Starletta Cole, also of Lexington, have teamed to launch the family-friendly Scratch House Restaurant & Catering at 777 Lexington Ave. The business opens on Monday, March 5.
“Scratch House was created out of the necessity of just getting back to food,” Collier said. “I feel like a lot of restaurants have just gotten away from freshness and the quality of food they give the customer – everything is made out of a bag, easy, simplified, so I just want to get back to food.”
As a chef with 23 years of experience, Collier assures customers everything at Scratch House Restaurant & Catering will be made from “quality ingredients.” Cole, who will manage the dining room and marketing, can attest to Collier’s cooking.
“I love his spaghetti squash, and I never thought I would like that,” Cole said. “And the blackened chicken alfredo – that’s actually on the menu.
“And his Cajun shrimp and grits.”
This too is on the menu.
Cole focused heavily on the lunch/dinner menu, served 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., but the Scratch House Restaurant also offers breakfast all-day, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“We have some signature items,” said Cole. “We didn’t want to be one of those restaurants like a Bob Evans or a Denny’s – not to knock that at all – but we wanted to offer something new, something different, that no one else in this area is offering.
“So some of our breakfast sandwiches, you can’t just get those at different places.”
One is a chicken and waffle sandwich with bacon and a honey sriracha sauce. Another is made on French toast with eggs, bacon and cheese. And other breakfast items include a grilled burrito and cold oats with fruit and granola.
Before coming to Mansfield, Collier opened a similar restaurant in 2012 in his hometown Cleveland, but it later closed.
“There we kind of had the same concept, but we did not have a good location,” Collier said. “We didn’t have the customer base we do on a street like this.”
He sees Scratch House Restaurant & Catering as a second chance, which he knows “you rarely get.”
After his former restaurant closed, Collier reconnected with Cole, and moved to Lexington. Determined to bring Collier’s restaurant dream to life, the two began searching for a location.
They briefly considered moving into the former Subway in downtown Mansfield, but Collier was set on the 777 Lexington Ave. location, a place he frequently drives by.
Cole, who grew up locally, recalls the spot was previously occupied Sweeney’s, Adam’s Ribs and the Falcon Room, but emphasizes Scratch House Restaurant and Catering won’t be like the previous “high-end” places. It is instead meant to be family-friendly.
“We want to make it where everyone can come – children can come as well – and allowing anyone from any walk of life to enjoy the atmosphere and the company,” Cole said.
Scratch House’s catering options should be able to please everyone, too. Collier says, he’ll make anything.
“I’ve yet to run into a problem where someone said, ‘I want to do this,’ and we said, ‘no,’” Collier said about previous catering experiences.
The restaurant also offers event space on weekends – Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays.
“We know Ed Pickens is retiring downtown, and people need a new place to have those types of social events. So here we are, we’re ready,” Cole said, mentioning the possibly of graduation parties and wedding showers.
The couple is also excited to help the community through the restaurant. Collier mentioned the possibility of donating food to the area’s homeless population.
Scratch House Restaurant’s regular hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Breakfast is served all day, and lunch is available from 11 a.m. to close. Cole notes, doors don’t close at 6 p.m. People will be seated and served until then and welcome to stay until they finish.
The restaurant closes on weekends to accommodate private events.
