“Well, 22 years ago, I used to come up north as a kid. We had a vacation home, and 22 years ago, I decided to move to Cheboygan. And I opened my first restaurant, which was Kitty corner from this restaurant,” said owner, Libby Davis.
Since then, Libby has accomplished quite a bit in the food industry, working as the pastry and sous chef at Pier M-33 then later opening Libby’s Café in a local car dealership. After outgrowing that space, you can now find Libby’s right downtown Cheboygan on Main Street. A staple in this Northern Michigan community.
“I’m so proud to be a business owner in Cheboygan. Cheboygan has come so far since 22 years ago when I was across the street, the development, the, the new growth of people, the economical standpoint it’s wonderful to see how it’s grown in a short amount of time. I’m super proud to be back downtown,” Davis said.
At Libby’s you can always count on a delicious meal and a dining experience you won’t get anywhere else.
“Well, I put my own kind of my own heart into every single restaurant that I’ve opened. if you notice in the restaurant, the art on the picture on the walls, everybody asks about the art on the walls. I could tell you people take pictures of the art on the walls, but it’s a reflection of who I am and what my personality is. And I just feel that I want everybody to have a great experience. I want people to leave and say, oh my gosh, that was such a fun place to go. you know, I met Libby. We talked, you know, she gave me a shirt. The food was great. So, it takes a long time to be able to make your dream come true,” said Davis.
And if you know Libby, you’ll know that she also has a gift when it comes to baking which led her to her recent opening of Libby’s Around the Corner Bakery.
“Everything is homemade. We make our own homemade pie crust, which we actually use 100% lard. and every batch has to be made by hand. I tried to reproduce to, to make it faster and it just didn’t work. I do have a number of great people right now that that work with me. And for a long time, I had a very hard time to let go of control, because I was the only one that could do it the way I wanted it. And I really found out a great lesson that that’s not the case.
After many years of experience in the food industry and as an entrepreneur, Libby has lots of wisdom and advice to be shared.
“What I found is that every single person that I work for, every now and then, my employees will say, that’s my boss. And I tell them, I’m not your boss, I’m your team leader. You know I’m here. I truly believe that you need to respect and honor and tell people that work with you and around you that are doing a great job. It means it makes a huge difference in every aspect of the restaurant to know that you have a great staff and great people working with you, and that they’re happy and that they like to come to work. And that’s my goal, is the success will come down the road, but it has to be that I want every single person that walks in the door to be happy, and they and love to come to work,” Libby said.
You can check out Libby’s Downtown in Cheboygan Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.