CASPER, Wyo. — As Gabriel and Kelly Reyes, owners of Wooden Derrick Cafe, look to the future, they can’t help but reflect on the past, especially as they settle into one of downtown Casper’s time capsules.
This became clear on a recent morning as the breakfast rush subsided, when Sheldon Sumey provided some insight while investigating some decades-old menus discovered in the basement.
“Everything was predicated on weight,” he explained, pointing to some of the food offerings. “We measured by weight rather than volume because of the difference in altitude.” The system was created by F.W. Woolworth’s corporate office and implemented in the luncheonette kitchens of the thousands of stores they operated across the country at the time.
One of those stores took up half a block in downtown Casper, and Sheldon’s father, Charlie, managed it from 1958 to 1970. It was also where Sheldon worked his first job. He felt compelled to visit after the Reyeses revitalized the space by moving from their smaller location just down the street.
It’s remarkable that the lunch counter has survived so well. Casper’s Woolworth’s was one of hundreds of stores that closed in 1992, as the company struggled to adapt to changing shopping habits and competition from Walmart. It eventually liquidated the remaining stores in 1997.
Since then, the space has hosted dozens of businesses, including a Chicago-style pizza restaurant, a burrito restaurant, a jazz club, and, most recently, The Void, a youth-oriented nightclub. It’s now back in use as a breakfast and lunch diner, marking a return to form for the lunch counter.
“We’re trying to see if we can get some people to reactivate some of this old stuff they used to use back in the day,” Gabriel explained, gesturing to the gleaming deco-era equipment along the wall behind the counter. “That would be really cool.”
Gabriel and his wife Kelly worked as truck drivers hauling ocean containers along the ports of Seattle and Tacoma for two decades.
They moved to Wyoming, where Gabriel worked for WYDOT for a while before Kelly devised a new plan. “She said, ‘You know that restaurant idea I’ve been talking about? “I need you to come to Casper so I can show you something,” Gabriel explained. “Trial and error, step by step, she built it the way it is today.”
In 2019, they opened at 112 E. 2nd St., where they specialize in homestyle cuisine and homemade desserts. They made it through the COVID pandemic and thrived, eventually outgrowing their original space.
“Our cooks were running out of room, the servers were running out of room, we were popping breakers,” he told me. They spent about a year looking for new options, but they were still dealing with high rents.
“Some places wanted like $5,000 a month,” he told me. “We’re a small mom-and-pop, there’s no way.” Eventually, the building owner from their previous location approached them with an offer for the new one. “We said, ‘OK, we’ll try it,’ and so far so good.”
A lot of sweat equity went into the new venue, which had been painted completely black by the previous nightclub. “We wanted more of a homier feeling rather than a commercial look,” he told me.
They have also received a lot of feedback since reviving the luncheonette. “We’ve had people come in and say, ‘My grandparents took me shopping here as a little kid,’ and so on. People come in and see it for themselves.”
