New breakfast and lunch spot will offer a step back in time at the old Beresford train depot
Riva Sharples | Editor
Starting next week, area residents can step back in time while enjoying a new breakfast and lunch spot in the old train depot building in Beresford.
Wake and Bake Bakery, which has been housed in one corner of the depot since 2023, is expanding its services to include a sit-down restaurant offering breakfast and lunch options. Relax on cozy sofas or dine at a table in the spacious restaurant area, which includes old town photos on loan from the Beresford Public Library, historic newspapers plastered on the walls, and luxurious furniture that harkens back to the days when a bustling railroad serviced the town.
The depot is owned by Beresford resident Beth Grace Cruz, who previously bought the building and restored it, turning it into Dark Horse Café in 2009, which was open for several years. Since that café closed more than a decade ago, the depot has mostly sat empty, with Wake and Bake Bakery using a portion of it in 2023 and now expanding to utilize the whole building.
“I just love this space!” said Chelsea Fitzgerald, owner of Wake and Bake. “Original from the building is the ticket window, the safe, and separate men’s and women’s entrances.”
For the new restaurant, Fitzgerald will be opening at 6:30 a.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays to offer breakfast and lunch. She will still have all her delectable bakery items available as well but will also offer grab and go breakfasts and dine-in options, like eggs, French toast, breakfast pizza, biscuits and gravy, and more, which she will cook in the expanded kitchen on the café side of the building. She will stay open until 2 p.m. offering lunch, featuring a variety of specials and sandwiches, as well as other goodies.
She is relying upon family and friends to help make the expanded business a success.
“I have so much help from family and people in the community who are going to be working a day or two here or there to run the register or to help waitress or serve,” she said. “This is definitely a community project.”
In addition to providing excellent food and bakery items, the expanded restaurant offers space for private parties, like birthdays, graduations, and other events. Fitzgerald hopes to hold a cookie decorating class there sometime soon, and she is envisioning having Bingo, craft, and trivia nights in the future.
“Hopefully, this space and restaurant will help bring the community together and give members of the public another place to gather,” she said. “This is a historic landmark, and I hope people will be as excited as I am to enjoy it!”
The existing depot is the second building on the site. The first depot, built in 1884, was torn down in 1924 because it was too small. A new, larger building, the current facilty, was built in its place to service Beresford, which was a hub of railroad activity in those days.
At the height of its activity, there were two freight and four passenger trains running through Beresford on a daily basis. The last Chicago and Northwestern train departed Beresford Depot in July of 1978, ending 95 years of consecutive service in the area.
Stop in and soak in the atmosphere of days gone by, and enjoy some wonderful food next week and beyond when Fitzgerald opens Wake and Bake, the expanded version.