Vine Café in Scranton serves a taste of home with family-favorite recipes.
Father and daughter duo Bill and Tessa Lavelle opened the eatery at 431 Lackawanna Ave. in April 2015. In addition to providing customers with homemade entrees and desserts, Vine offers smoothies as well as seasonal salads, sandwiches and drinks.
Chef’s Table chatted with Bill Lavelle about Vine and its diverse menu.
Q: What is the history of the restaurant?
A: We opened our current location in April 2015. After working in the restaurant business for 28 years and being persuaded by my daughter Tessa, I (chef and owner) decided we would give it a go and open our own restaurant along with a great team of loyal employees who have been with us since we’ve opened.
Q: What type of food do you serve?
A: We serve breakfast, lunch, sweets and smoothies.
Q: What’s your specialty?
A: Our specialty is a Sweet Potato Chickpea Burger with Tahini Yogurt Sauce and our homemade Tomato Bisque Soup with grilled cheese croutons and balsamic reduction.
Tessa and Bill Lavelle show off popular dishes available at Vine Cafe, 431 Lackawanna Ave., Scranton
Q: How did your menu come to be?
A: Our menu is based on things we (as a family) like to eat with a heavy emphasis on fresh, healthy items, seasonality of ingredients and from-scratch cooking.
Q: What are your most popular dishes and drinks?
A: Our most popular dishes are salads, smoothies and desserts. The Honey Mustard Chicken Salad is our most popular salad. That is made with greens, bacon, avocado, cheddar, chicken and honey mustard vinaigrette. The Blue Velvet Smoothie is our best-selling smoothie, which is made with blueberries, coconut milk and almond milk.
Q: What type of seating do you have?
A: We have indoor seating for 32 guests.
Q: What kinds of entertainment and specials do you offer?
A: We offer weekly seasonally inspired specials. It’s usually a salad, vegetarian sandwich, non-vegetarian sandwich or occasionally hot entrees. Although, our sweets have become a large part of our business. Tessa creates weekly special desserts, such as cupcakes and decorated sugar cookies. We also make pies and gluten-free brownies, which sell out every time we make them.
Several times throughout the year, we have themed weeks at Vine where we pair the theme with foods, drinks and desserts. Our most popular themed weeks have been Harry Potter and “Stranger Things.”
Q: Do you offer catering, event space, etc.?
A: We offer catering for pickup, which includes sandwiches, salads and desserts.
Q: Where do you see the restaurant headed in the future?
A: Growing the business enough to do more catering. Most importantly, keep the quality and consistency going to keep our customers coming back.
Q: Do you offer dine-in, outside seating, delivery or curbside pickup?
A: We currently offer all of these. We are so fortunate to have a loyal customer base that has been so supportive during this difficult time.
Vine Cafe
Address: 431 Lackawanna Ave.,Scranton, PA 18503
Phone: 570-207-2639
Established: April 2015
Owners: William Lavelle and daughter, Tessa Lavelle
Cuisine: Modern American
Hours: Mondays through Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Online: Visit eatatvine.com or the Facebook and Instagram pages
Contact the writer: arhodes@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9127
