Bert’s Cafe: 95 Years of Breakfast and Burgers in Brigham City

  For 95 years, Bert’s Café has been serving up breakfast and burgers on Brigham City’s Main Street. 

   And for 94 years, there was always an Albert LeRoy Olsen at the helm. But now, instead of another “Bert,” it’s “Britt.”

  When Albert “Bert” LeRoy Olsen III passed away in March 2023, Bert’s step-daughter, Brittnee Roskelley stepped up. She had already worked with Bert and her mother, Kathy Olsen, for 21 years.

  “We want to see it hit 100 years in our family,” Brittnee told me during a Standard-Examiner interview. “If things are going well, we’ll see.”

  Roskelley doesn’t plan to change the menu, although she may expand the hours past the current 2 p.m. 

  “Why try to change something good, when it’s been so successful for so many years?” she said.

She believes in supporting other restaurants who have their own niche, rather than trying to compete with them.

  “The crepery next door, their crepes are fantastic, but I’m not going to start doing crepes here just because they’re getting successful,” she said.

    Bert’s is one of Utah’s oldest restaurants; although at 103 years old, the Idle Isle down the street claims the honor of the “oldest continuously operating restaurant” in Utah. (Here’s a list of some of the other older restaurants in Utah. )

In 1929, the first Albert LeRoy Olsen opened a small burger counter on Main Street, known as Bert’s Turn Inn Car Service, where drivers could pull up and order from their cars. It was so small that the bathrooms for the café and the Tahoe Lounge next door were located outside, Roskelley said. When the Tahoe Lounge closed, Bert took over that space, adding more booths and inside bathrooms.

  He passed it on to his son, Albert LeRoy Olsen II, called LeRoy. And LeRoy passed it on to his son, Albert LeRoy Olsen III, called Bert. In March 2023, Bert lost his battle with Stage IV throat cancer. Bert’s son — Albert LeRoy Olsen IV — prefers his career in the tech industry and wasn’t interested in taking over the restaurant, said Roskelley.

  Roskelley’s mother, Kathy Olsen, met Bert around 1994. The two married in 2000, and they ran the restaurant together. “I got a lot of my work ethic and knowledge from both of them,” Roskelley said.

   With her step-father’s passing, “I wanted my mom to retire, because they both worked so hard,” said Roskelley. “I wanted her to have a chance to do some things like traveling, walking on the beach, and enjoy herself.”

   Bert’s Cafe is open from 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

“We come in an hour-and-a-half before opening, and are here about two hours after closing every single day. We are always slicing, dicing, and cooking, it’s a lot of work,” said Roskelley.

   You’ll find classic breakfast dishes — pancakes, omelets, French toast, biscuits & gravy, steak & eggs, and breakfast burritos.

  Kat’s Kitchen Skillets feature eggs scrambled with potatoes and other ingredients. The Johnson Skillet is a signature breakfast item named for a long-ago customer in the 1980s, who always ordered two eggs scrambled into hash browns, with ham and onions, and topped with cheddar.

  The other skillets also have local names like Farmers – two eggs scrambled into Cowboy potatoes, sausage, onions, and green peppers, topped with cheddar and country gravy. The Brigham packs a bit more heat from jalapenos and pepper jack cheese, along with ground beef, onion, tomatoes and cowboy potatoes.  

   Eggs Britt is named after Roskelley, who describes it as, “A souped-up eggs Benedict” that’s been on the menu about 12 years.  The poached eggs are set on an English muffin, with bacon, tomato, spinach, and provolone, and topped with Hollandaise sauce, “and we have excellent Hollandaise sauce,” she added.

    A signature lunch item is the June Burger, created by Brittnee’s grandmother, June Olsen. It’s stuffed with Thousand Island dressing, onion and cheddar, and topped with Swiss cheese.

  “It’s an explosion of flavor in your mouth,” Roskelley said.

  Besides burgers, other entrees include Navajo tacos, fish & chips, chicken strips, French dip, BLT and Reuben sandwiches. All are served with fries and range from $9-15.

  The kids’ menu is called Pipsqueak Menu, because “My dad was a huge SpongeBob fan, and we named it for the Pipsqueak Patty at the Krusty Krab,” Roskelley said. Seniors can also order from the Pipsqueak menu, as the dishes are smaller portioned.

  Samantha Chadwick and Paul Vigil are cook-managers. Vigil was at Bert’s Café for 23 years, before going to Sydney’s in Mantua. He came back when Sydney’s moved to Preston in February.  “He was more than happy to come back, and we were happy to have him back,” said Roskelley. “We are more than just employees, we become family.”

       Heuvos rancheros is a recently weekly special that has gained a following.  

      “We try to do a few different specials every week to give the regulars something new to try,” Roskelley said. “We have four generations of families that are still coming in here, and their stories are amazing. I like interacting with new customers, but I also love hearing stories from the past.”

The restaurant keeps the full menu open all day, “so if you’re craving a burger at 7 a.m., you can get it,” she said.

    But all-day breakfast seems to be more popular.   Years ago, Bert’s was also open for dinner. But when dinner business slacked off, the restaurant cut back to serving just breakfast and lunch. Roskelley said she’s thinking of expanding the hours from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the future.

  Bert’s attracts a variety of customers wanting something hot and hearty.

  “We have the construction workers, city workers, the high school kids — the football coaches will meet here. and we have our regulars who come here every day for their coffee and breakfast.”

ADDRESS: 89 S. Main St., Brigham City

CONTACT INFO: 435-734-9544 or Bert’s Café

HOURS: 7 a.m.-2 p.m. daily. Hours may be expanded in summer.