Kraut Haven closing after 40 years

Gladys Toebs won’t have to wake up at 5 a.m. to hand prepare perogies for her booth any longer. She’s spent many years making sure lunch is well on the go before the coffee crew arrives early in the morning.

“I was happy at work,” said Toebs. “To me this was home.”

Toebs is closing Kraut Haven, her business, on Saturday after a sudden cancer diagnosis. She was taken to the hospital from work in late June, which was her last day of work.

“That ended my career right then and there,” Toebs said.

Kraut Haven has been a staple at Victoria Square Shopping Centre’s food court for a long time. In 1985 she began working as a waitress for Kraut Haven. After a few years off, Gladys bought the business in 1989.

Gladys Toebs and Manfred Toebs making Schnitzel. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

She said her first few years as owner were not easy.

“I was just all by myself trying to put things together,” Toebs said.

“I am a hard-working person and I just didn’t give in, so I just kept going and going.”

Toebs said the coffee pot is always going, and the bread box is stocked with at least four loaves of bread each morning.

Don Csada said he’s been coming to the food court six days a week for the past 14 years. He said the “great food, great prices, (and) great service” kept him coming back to Kraut Haven.

Csada is one of 40 people who got to enjoy the last-ever “Schnitzel Thursday Special.”

He and many others said they are signing a card for Toebs to wish her well, and tipping extra.

“Most of the people in here are clients,” said Csada. “We want to support her and keep her as long as we can.”

Csada said that he will miss the Denver special on Sunday the most.

While Toebs’ retirement is sudden, she said it took some serious persuasion from her family to finally close.

“They knew they had one chance to get me out of here, and if they didn’t use this chance they would probably never get another one,” said Toebs.

It’s tough for Toebs to take a backseat at Kraut Haven for a few days.

“Now suddenly to sit down and not run around is pretty hard.”

Toebs said her husband is glad to finally have her back around the house.

“I was more married to my business than I was my husband,” said Toebs. “At the end, I thought I should be more married to my husband than my business.”

Cheryl Kerr has been working alongside Toebs almost four years. She said she’s loves serving the senior citizens who visit every morning.

Kerr said she and many other customers have been sharing laughter and tears during Kraut Haven’s last few days.

“There will be a lot of tears,” Kerr said. “There were a lot of tears for the last two weeks.”

Toebs said she has had tons of fun over the past few years. Last year, they held their very own Oktoberfest at the food court with a festival of bratwurst, perogies, and sourkraut. Toebs arranged for German dancers to perform and had non-alcoholic beer and wine being served.

Toebs said she’s always prided herself on authentic German cuisine.

“The part of it that’s such a shame is that we are the last of the German places,” said Toebs.

She said she doesn’t know who will move into her spot, but she hopes she can make it down for coffee with some of her customers at the food court.

“This is my place this is where I belong,” said Toebs.