One of Sweet Home’s newest businesses to recently open is “Taylor Made” for a community that needed more cafe-style breakfast and lunch options.
Taylor Made Cafe and Bakery, on Long Street, is a family-run business operated by Taylor Glenn, namesake and front-of-house, with her husband Wes Glenn, the “floater,” and Taylor’s sister, Erica Forret, the cook and back-of-house manager.
After only a few weeks of being open, the family has seen repeat customers, and have noted their cinnamon rolls regularly fly off the shelf. More recently, Taylor Made offered cheesecake-filled pumpkin muffins, which also were a big hit.
“People are just excited for something new, something different, something that Sweet Home hasn’t had in a long time,” Taylor said.
Wes believes their elk and bison burgers will also be a popular item once people start realizing it’s an option at Taylor Made. Wes said the meat is lean and prepared such that it doesn’t have that wild, gamey taste. Taylor said she likes the bison meat best because of its “richness,” adding that bison meat is different and difficult to describe.
Taylor had been operating Taylor Made Cakes & Pastries for six years out of her home using a front room that was converted into a bakery. Designing mostly custom cakes and cookies, “the extravagant things” for parties, she said, Taylor found herself working from very early morning to late at night while managing home life on the other side of the wall.
As her business grew, she started looking for a downtown location that would allow Taylor Made to separate work life from home life and expand the business into a cafe.
“Sweet Home’s been missing this ever since Skyline closed,” she said, adding that her family enjoys going out for breakfast.
Taylor Made Cafe serves breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays) from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. While her bakery case offers delights such as scones, croissants, muffins, coffee cake, and cinnamon rolls, Taylor’s custom made cakes and cookies are on hold until the new business is better settled.
“People don’t want just cakes and cookies anymore; they want food,” she said. “I want it to be more than just cakes and cookies. I want it to be what Sweet Home needs.”
Part of what Sweet Home needs more of, she noted, is the ability to have a burger at 6 a.m. or breakfast at noon.
Taylor plans to soon add a hot case with burritos and sandwiches for grab-and-go service, as well as a not-on-the-menu specials board.
Taylor noted the community has been patient with them during the seven months it took to get the business ready, and even local business owners, such as Michael Hall from The Point, have been supportive. Hall, she said, has not only sent flowers to her cafe, but he’s stopped in and purchased several pastries. While The Point and Taylor Made both sell lunch and breakfast, including their own versions of homemade biscuits and gravy, Taylor said there’s no sense of competition, and their businesses are different in great ways.
“We’re here to support each other, not compete against each other,” she said.
Taylor Made serves sit down and take out, offering coffee sourced from Sisters and homegrown meats (elk and bison out of Illinois, and beef from Lebanon).
“The community has been so supportive and welcoming and excited,” Taylor said.