If there’s one thing Washington Avenue was missing, it’s made-to-order, steaming hot donuts. The newly opened The Test Kitchen, a sandwich and hot donut joint serving lunch and dinner staples, has solved this problem.
Experimental in nature, the restaurant’s concept encourages customers to choose what goes on the menu.
With the holiday break and the recent surge of COVID-19 cases from the Omicron variant, business was slow when the lunch and dinner spot opened its doors late last year. Nevertheless, co-owners Chris Rahder and Kerry Kramp are thrilled to have a location on a college campus and they have already seen an increase in sales after students returned from campus.
“Typically, when people look at restaurants, they think it has to be limited to one thing. But here, it is the reverse,” Rahder said. “We kind of let the students and the people of the area dictate what we make.”
The concept of The Test Kitchen mainly revolves around not limiting the shop to one idea of a restaurant. The menu is small and includes a range of handheld lunch and dinner items — from the creative: a grilled cheese sandwich with a burger in between, to the classics: glazed, sugar or plain donuts. The restaurant also takes requests from its customers. Two of their menu items, the Pat and the Kenny Melt, were named after customers with specific requests.
The owners were originally nervous to enforce the new proof of vaccination rules, according to Rahder. However, it has not been an issue of concern for them.
“The great part about being located where we are is that about 90% of the customers who walk in show their phones to prove that they are vaccinated,” said Rahder. “So, it actually has been a lot easier than I anticipated.”
With Roti, Burger King, Chipotle and Raising Canes lining Washington Avenue Southeast, restaurant chains have increasingly overtaken Stadium Village. The pandemic caused many locally owned restaurants along Washington Avenue — Punch Pizza and Simpls, to name a few — to shut down or temporarily close. A locally owned lunch and dinner spot is a welcome addition to the bustling University street.
The owners plan on keeping their customers by staying transparent with them, Rahder said. They have opened up the kitchen area so that customers can watch the cooking process and all that goes into it. On top of this, maintaining a positive environment between coworkers and customers is emphasized, according to Rahder.
“I love interacting with my coworkers,” cook Karim El Agha said. “There is a strong small business vibe going on and the way we talk to each other and engage outside work reflects that. Everyone here has a distinct personality.”
Second-year student Margaret Engel agrees. “There is a really upbeat vibe as soon as you come into the store,” said Engel, who enjoyed one of The Test Kitchen’s donuts at the shop.
The majority of ingredients that The Test Kitchen uses come from local shops and farms. You’ll find bread from Uptown Ovens on your sandwiches and cheese from Wisconsin layered atop your burgers.
Although The Test Kitchen is still relatively new, Rahder hopes to expand his business in the future. His next ventures will be guided by the same concept that he currently has for his restaurant.
“Our current goal goes back to the original idea of being a kitchen of concepts,” Rahder said. “If customers are demanding enough donuts, we will open a donut shop. If we try out ice cream and it works, we will open an ice cream shop.”
