Octagon Cafe

The Octagon Café started life as an eight-sided building.

It has more than eight sides now (or at least has more than eight wall surfaces), but it is still the same cozy spot it was in its first incarnation. It’s roomier for sure and the views are unparalleled, but you still feel enveloped in the aromas, the warmth of the colors and the people who serve you.

The Octagon has been in Fountain Hills for almost four years. It first opened on the west side of Saguaro Boulevard in a quirky little building with eight sides (thus the name). When their lease ran out, owners Jim McCullen and Cindy Albright looked around and decided to reopen in Plaza Fountainside, not far from the original location, but on the east side of the street overlooking Fountain Lake.

The original restaurant featured coffee, tea and desserts at night. Jim was still doing his corporate job while Cindy ran the restaurant. Little by little, Octagon’s business grew. A couple of sandwiches were added, so the restaurant added lunchtime hours. Cindy was spending long hours every day at the Octagon, and the business kept growing.

“She called me one morning and said I just cannot keep going at this pace,” Jim said. “I quit my job, and here we are.”

Jim was a logistics manager, so even without restaurant background, he was good at problem solving and building a business.

“Cindy is the food person,” Jim said. “I really don’t have a knack for that at all, so Cindy came up with the food, and I now do the day-to-day management.”

Jim said that the success of the business has been dependent on luck, happenstance and good customers.

“We have great, loyal customers who have been so instrumental in helping the business do well,” he said. “They come back, they tell their friends, and we have a very loyal following. It’s wonderful.”

The Octagon is open seven days a week, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The breakfast menu features eggs, pancakes, wraps, fruit and cereals. A wide variety of coffees and teas are served in the morning, as well as throughout the day.

Lunch is served from 11 a.m., with salads and sandwiches gracing the menu. A soup of the day is offered, and combinations of soups and salads, or soups or salads and sandwiches are served. The choices are healthful and inviting with seven salads and eight sandwiches. A selection of desserts also is available daily.

With the additional space came a Happy Hour, so from 3 to 6 p.m. four days a week, drink specials are available. The Octagon has a varied wine list, as well as domestic and imported beers and a small selection of liquor.

The dinner menu for now is basically the same as the lunch menu, but Jim says the “last piece of the puzzle” is the development of the dinner menu. That will be the focus in the spring.

For now, Jim says he is happy with the way the business is going.

“There are so many possibilities, but one thing I think we have done right is to expand slowly,” he said. “I think we’re going to stick with that formula.

In addition to the restaurant, and with the added space, an Internet café is in the front, with the dining room in the back. A patio also is available for dining.

The Octagon is located at 12645 N. Saguaro Blvd., Suite 1 It is open Sunday through Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Wednesday through Saturday until 8 p.m. Call (480) 816-8806 for information.