PORTSMOUTH— For nearly two decades, the O’Neill family has been making Market Street the place to visit for casual meetings, great lunches, friendly gatherings and more. After 18 years, Market Street Café has left the hands of its caring founders, Susan O’Neil, Paul O’Neil and Mary Rase. The retirement plans have been a year in the making and the business finally found its buyer in the eleventh hour in the form of a former employee and local community business owner and leader Reece Brown.

While the chapter of O’Neill and Rase management at Market Street Cafe has closed, Susan says it is a bittersweet moment where she has amazing memories and friendships to look back on, time spent closely with family and making new, the realization that the owning family members are ready for retirement, and, ultimately, peace of mind in knowing the restaurant will continue under the management and ownership of Brown who understands the importance the little café has in the community.

The café’s roots go back to 2005, when the O’Neill’s purchased elements of the former Jessie’s Java business, wishing to keep something similar alive in Portsmouth. They spent the year in construction at their popular location to have a homey and “out-of-town” feel. While they never owned the building itself, only the business, they said they had wonderful support from property owners.

“At first, when we started, the building was co-owned by Steve Hayes and Mark Harris. Mark was the brains in a lot of the repairs and restoration,” Paul explained. “Over time, Steve bought out Mark’s portion, but we were really blessed to have building owners that always supported us. They were very generous.”

The family was determined to make the business work, after the closing of another business.

“It was sort of a continuation of Jessie’s Java,” Susan explained “We bought some of her equipment, recipes, and some concepts. When she closed her business, we wanted to continue that, but on a bigger scale.”

Susan’s sister-in-law had worked at Jessie’s Java and the family went on to create Market Street Café. Her sister-in-law would help launch it and work it for three years.

Susan explained that they had to learn the elements of the trade quickly and had a lot of support from suppliers to get their footing. They originally expected to have four people employed per shift, but it was quickly obvious with their popularity that less than ten wouldn’t cut it.

“I joined in the operation because we were so busy,” Susan recalled. “We were slammed the moment we opened and had been hiring people right and left, tripling in size in anything we ever expected initially.”

Prior to owning and operating Market Street with her family, Susan was a medical technologist.

“The early days were pretty trying. We learned a lot, though, and had great suppliers who taught us tricks of the trade. The rest was just learning as we went and dedicating ourselves to a good product,” Susan said. “My mom is an excellent cook and she only wanted top quality products and good food.”

Susan and Paul both agreed on what made the restaurant so popular right away.

“We think the atmosphere and the location and quality of food made Market Street,” Susan said. “A lot of people who visited said that it was a great place and they felt like they were out of town.”

Paul echoed that sentiment.

“A lot of people felt like we had a big city restaurant feel,” Paul said. “Now, of course, we have multiple restaurants like that, but we’ve remained a popular spot.”

While running the restaurant, the O’Neills and Rases kept the community in mind and part of their focus. They sponsored events and functions, supported non-profits and schools, donated funding, food, and gifts. They especially had a soft spot for downtown non-profits, such as Friends of Portsmouth and Main Street Portsmouth in Bloom, as well as firefighters.

“When Susan and Mary opened the Market Street Cafe 18 years ago, it brought life back to a sleepy area of town,” Main Street Portsmouth in Bloom President Sue Burke said. “Over the years, it has become a gathering place for people of all ages. Starting with the men in the morning meeting for their cups of coffee. Susan and Mary made everyone feel welcome and they would stop by each table to say hello. They have also always supposed the Main Street Flower Girls and they will be greatly missed.”

For Susan, giving back was natural.

“Paul, my mom, and I always felt that a business needs to give back,” Susan said. “We had certain organizations we had a soft spot for. Maybe we didn’t donate the most money, but we would always give food or services or support where we could. You have to support the community.”

Paul claimed another way they gave back was in the form of their workforce.

“We tried to be a space for Shawnee students to grow,” Paul explained. “We took them in and mentored them and helped them get through school. We wanted to give them the opportunity to learn running a business while earning their education.”

Susan believes they graduated around 90 Shawnee State University students in the 18 years of being open.

“A lot of them are in high end jobs now but started with us,” Susan offered. “I was very flexible and allowed them to come and go. I always tried to help them the way I could. If they lived out of town, I would try to be that connection to Portsmouth for them. I had a lot of close connections with our students. In a way, I was like their work mom and my mom was the nanna of the whole café. Most of them even called her nanna.”

In 18 years of providing their service to the community, many memories stand out to Susan, but her friendships stand as her crowning achievement.

“Just meeting so many people, people I never would have met have become some of my best friends. Actually, when we had struggles and were short on work post covid, we had four or five friends made through the business who would step up and help. I would have to call in what I called my ‘volunteer crew’ and they would always be there to get us through a shift. Those friends include Diane Applegate, Debbie Daniels, Betsy Suber, and Linda Gooden. I called them my head volunteers,” Susan said. “The joy of seeing so many people enjoying themselves and making them happy stands out to me. I would always go around the tables and greet people, strike up conversation, and we made a lot of friends that way. It was a community gathering place with a lot of heart.”

Of course, one major heartache stands out to Susan as well, which includes the Market Street fire that happened in 2016. The fire started a few buildings south of Market Street, where it displaced residents and closed business for Vanity Hair Salon for a few months while they made repairs. One building, where the fire originated, would have ultimately been a total loss if not for the dedication of the Glockner Family, who eventually invested the money few would to save it and preserve their family’s starting location.

“It was hard to deal with and the fire department saved Market Street Café, because the fire was getting close to impacting us, too,” Susan recalled. “Luckily, they were able to put a stop to it, but it didn’t stop it from being devastating because that whole block was impacted.”

Susan and her mother had an interesting reaction to the fire. While displaced people were on the street watching the fire burn and people gathered to offer support, the two didn’t stand by.

While Main Street Portsmouth in Bloom was there to offer coffee to everyone onsite, the two women realized they could make an impact on their own.

“My mom had an idea. It was cold and early, and she decided we had to feed the firemen working. She also wanted to care for the displaced people,” Susan recalled. “We believe in taking care of people. Also, we were so nervous and upset that we had to do something to cope, which, for us, comes in the form of work. Our electricity was out and we had all of this food, so we had to use it. We got to work and made food for anyone there who wanted something to eat. It was spur of the moment, but we wanted to help, to do something.”

The two women would walk around the street, offering free food to folks wrapped in blankets, tired firefighters, and those who gathered to show support.

The family has officially closed the deal on Market Street, handing the keys over to Brown. They stuck around for some time to teach the new owner what they could and they continue to take calls, visit, and offer support to ensure their legacy continues. The decision was both easy and hard for the owners that dedicated nearly two decades of their lives to keeping the spot alive.

“It was a woohoo moment for sure, but we had a lot of sadness leading up to signing the papers, too. That’s all we did for 18 years. We worked six days a week with our employees. Of course, it feels like you’re leaving your family. It was bittersweet, but it was time. This was time for my retirement and my mom’s second retirement,” Susan explained. “It was also time to hand it over to someone younger, with energy to keep it changing and growing. We’re excited for Reece. He was actually one of our employees and I was thrilled when he contacted me and expressed interest, because he is also such a community-minded person. It is overwhelming for him right now, but we believe he will make it work. We are thrilled.”

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.