Sommerset Hall Café: A gathering place for the locals, known nationally for its pies!

In July 2006, Everette and Judy Thomas remodeled and reopened the café for Dover. At the main intersection in town, the cafe had been a gathering place for many years. The cafe fills a need for folks in the community to have a place to gather, socialize, and to dine.

The Cafe is known in the region for its friendly service and great food. The quaint cafe garnered national attention in November 2008, when Norma Grubb, the cafe’s pie-maker, won a Good Morning America contest “Best Pie in America.” The honor took the café and Dover by storm.

Norma was celebrated and folks came from everywhere to get a piece of her famous pie. Even Diane Sawyer called asking the cafe to ship a coconut cream pie so she could take it on her Christmas yacht trip. Have you ever shipped a coconut cream pie?

Norma achieved the lifetime goal of making more than 10,000 pies during the time she worked for current and previous proprietors of the Dover business. She retired from pie making at the age of 89.

Sadly, Norma passed away in 2011, but her legacy and tradition of famous pie at the Dover Cafe continues.

Folks from all over the area enjoy eating at the café, and on Friday nights you may find them from as far away as Kansas City, Manhattan, Wamego, St. Marys, Auburn, Rossville, Eskridge, Harveyville, Burlingame, Silver Lake, and other small towns in the area. Friday nights are popular for the homemade alternating dinners, including fried Chicken on the 1st Friday of the month.