In the heart of downtown Phoenix sits Hidden Track Cafe, located on the ground floor of 111 W. Monroe St.
Owner Craig Dziadowicz bought the establishment about three years ago and has had a high volume of customers since then. Before the city and states’ implementations of stay-at-home orders, Dziadowicz saw 100-200 customers daily.
Now he has 30-40 customers per day on average, but his business is still thriving due to its innovation and loyal customers.
When he was 18 Dziadowicz worked at a fine dining restaurant in Wisconsin, the Union House, where he learned the ropes of the restaurant business working in food prep and as a busser, server and bartender. Working there sparked his interest in the food and wine industry.
He moved to Arizona in 2001, later purchasing not just Hidden Track Cafe, but also a wine shop next door.
In early March, Dziadowicz had an epiphany at a music festival when a vendor mentioned he noticed the cancellation of other music festivals. This was a turning point where he and his partner knew they needed to shift the business.
That week, the café transitioned into a bodega to serve his community of loyal customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Instead of customers coming in to buy a two-dollar cup of coffee, they’re coming in to buy $40-60 worth of groceries,” Dziadowicz said.
The bodega offers fresh produce such as potatoes, spinach, lettuce, dill, onions and a variety of fruits from a local farm, Al-Hamka. The first day the business operated as a bodega, it sold a high volume of potatoes.
“Potatoes have been flying off the shelves; I never thought I’d say I sold 50 pounds of potatoes in a day,” Dziadowicz said.
He attributed the high sales volume to potatoes being comfort food and their wide variety of uses for cooking. In addition to produce, one can find rare cheeses, fresh soups and pasta sauces from Benedict’s Catering in Scottsdale. The bodega also carries some unique goods, such as imported dry pasta from Italy, which has become a customer favorite. French churned butter is another popular item.
Dziadowicz noticed many of his customers have developed a new interest in cooking. They are even sharing recipes on the bodega’s Instagram page.
Long-time customer Nate Pryor expressed his gratitude for the cafe adapting to the changing times.
“I appreciate the business remaining open because it instills a sense of community,” Pryor said.
Liz Calabria, Hidden Track Cafe’s manager, also noticed a shift in how business is conducted. Calabria recalled that before the pandemic, there was such a high volume of customers that she had little time to engage with them personally.
“It’s unfortunate, but also nice to have this pause that makes you evaluate what you’re doing rather than always being on this fast pace,” Calabria said. “This is the list of things to do today, get it done as fast as you can so you can get out on time. Now when we go to work, we can think about what we are actually doing here and how we can make ourselves better for the community.”
She added that she feels lucky to have strong support from the community. Dziadowicz agreed.
“Our customers are definitely stepping up. I mean, one of them came and just had a checkbook and said ‘How much can I write this check for?’ That’s the mentality of support our community is trying to give us,” he said.
He and his staff are taking the advice of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention by providing hand sanitizer and gloves to customers when they visit the bodega. The employees are wearing the recommended standard of masks and gloves. Even the option to pay is a no-touch card chip reader where the customer can wave the card or just hit a button, with the intention of giving customers a feeling of safety while shopping.
The Hidden Track Cafe is open from 8 a.m.-2 p.m., and the bodega is open from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Contact the reporter at jkoneil3@asu.edu.
