You’re Going to Love This Delicious Comfort Food Tradition with a Twist

November 10, 2023 3 min read 91 Views

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Taste of the Town: Canby Biscuits Cafe
By Angie Helvey, Contributing Writer

Canby Biscuits owners David and Dana Ligatich have been together for 30 years, and their story is full of heart and inspiration. David says he knew Dana was the one for him when he met her in high school Spanish class. They married and had two boys before unfortunately losing everything in the recession of 2008, living in a campground in Alaska with David working ten-hour days managing a major retailer to make ends meet. “My son said to me, ‘You never have time to go to my games or come to my school.’ That’s when I knew we had to move back to Oregon and do something different,” says David.

Dana’s flourishing success serving at the Gresham Biscuits sparked their next adventure. After she markedly increased his revenue, founder Ed Preston offered to sell her the Gresham location so she could spend more time with David, who was battling health issues. Since then, they’ve had the opportunity to buy six other locations, including acquiring Canby last October. They are the perfect team, David doing 90 percent of his work from home and Dana doing 100 percent of her work in the restaurants. “It’s been an amazing journey,” David says.

Biscuits serves breakfast and lunch, classic and homemade, with fresh, high-quality ingredients and excellent portions, but they shine by showing customers an elevated experience with plenty of surprises up their sleeves you won’t find at your typical cafe. The menu is full of fun and trendy options like Churro Waffles and a Bacon Bloody Mary made with Tito’s Vodka. Customers can enjoy a sampling of flavors with the Cold Brew or French Toast Flight, or order the Bacon Board and feast on varieties like Chocolate Strawberry or Garlic Parmesan. Of course, all the best traditional choices are also available, like omelets, benedicts, scrambles, Chicken Fried Steak and more. The lunch menu features a tasty selection of burgers, sandwiches and salads. A kid’s menu is available for the little ones, and they also offer a few vegan options like French Toast and a Breakfast Burrito.

David and Dana stick to their core values where it counts and care for their guests and employees like they were family. That includes paying a living wage plus closing early and on holidays. “At the Canby location, we’ve been blessed to retain some employees from the previous ownership, and we’ve brought in some amazing new team members to create a cohesive team that works well together,” David says. “We do everything we can to make our employees successful, and that’s how we’ve found our success.”

Advocating for supporting restaurants in a market where food prices have skyrocketed is another cornerstone. “If the community wants their restaurants to succeed, don’t drink just water. Have the Fruity Pebble French Toast and order the Espresso Martini to go with it, or the Coke, or the coffee. You are supporting that owner and their team so much by doing that,” says David. Dana and David love Canby and strive to nurture the community around them. “The cafe has supported the Canby Rodeo for years, and we continued that tradition this year. Just in these last few months, we were able to do a fundraiser to send local youth to Mexico for a service project.” They’ve also joined the Canby Chamber, and David is a long-time Rotarian. “We feel that being present in our communities is huge.”

Stop by Biscuits next time you’re in the mood for classic American comfort food with some zany twists in a friendly cafe with a farmhouse kitchen vibe. “We’ve cut it down to time, quality, and service. We want to deliver a delicious, quality plate of food with the best service available in as little time as possible, 100 percent of the time,” David says.