New owners take over The Circle

Jamie Doran

Valley Press

Suzie and Doran VonHeeder are the proud new owners of The Circle in Plains.

The VonHeeders have been the new owners since Jan. 1.

“This was just a great business and organization to get involved in,” she said. “There is such a history with The Circle and it is such a staple in the community.”

The Circle is an establishment that has only gone through four owners during its 30-plus years in Plains.

“It has a great feel to it, and it really is a family,” Suzie said.

Some might say that The Circle is nostalgia overload, especially with Coca Cola products. The restaurant is covered with Coca-Cola memorabilia as well as red and white all over, giving the place a down home diner feel to it.

“The atmosphere is one of the things that I absolutely love about this place,” Suzie said. “We definitely don’t want to take that feel away and we have no intentions of changing what this place stands for and feels like.”

While the menu has expanded over the years, diners can still find classic diner favorites like cheeseburgers and tater-tots.

Suzie said that the menu has something for everyone, including Asian chicken salads and pitas, and as of right now the plan is to keep the menu the same.

“We may someday want to go ahead and expand on the menu and add some items, but that will be down the road, right now we’re happy with the food that we’re serving, so we’d like to keep it as is for the time being,” she said.

She said that there will slowly be some changes, but nothing too drastic.

“We’re really going to focus on the outside of the building,” she said.

The VonHeeders plan on putting up a new sign and also putting a new roof on the building. The one item that will be added in the restaurant itself will be a television.

“I’m a huge sports fan,” Suzie said. “Any and all sports and news too, so I think it would be a great addition to the restaurant.”

All-in-all Suzie said that she is really excited to run The Circle.

“I think this will be a great opportunity for us (she and Doran),” she said. “So far things have just been great and I am really excited to see what the future holds. The community has been extremely supportive and I think they’re going to continue to stand behind us.”