By DALE MADISON

Long a fixture on Wilton Drive, Shawn & Nick’s Courtyard Café has been known for years as a great place for breakfast and lunch, or a late-night, post-weekend-bar-crawl snack. The story goes well beyond that. When was the last time—especially in South Florida—that you heard of a business deal being made over a handshake?

When owners Nick Berry and Shawn Bombard first discussed the idea of purchasing the venerable restaurant from former owners Norman and Judy, Bombard recalls “I wanted to buy a cleaning business and a laundromat, but Nick had other ideas. Bombard, who had a professional restaurant background, had been looking for a change. “It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the food business, but I thought perhaps it was time for a change,” he remarked over iced tea.

“Now 10 years later, here I am still at it. Funny, some things as we go through life just don’t change.”

For years, Bombard had been the selfdescribed “caustic and loud” waiter whom everyone requested to be sat in his station, just for a chance to be insulted and yelled at. It was just a tradition that longtime patrons had come to expect and, frankly, for this writer, Sunday just wasn’t the same without biscuits and gravy—and Shawn asking “Is that enough for you fatty?”—always with a laugh. (Those days of biscuits and gravy are long gone: now it’s black coffee and fruit salad.)

The Comfort Food Kings Berry and Bombard also participate in the community that patronizes them.

Full disclosure: when I worked for a local non-profit, Shawn called and offered a special dinner menu with 10% of the sales donated to the organization. The business pair has also supported numerous other local organizations, and they do so during their busiest nights. For Bombard and Berry, giving back is serious business.

Bombard says that he would like to see more boutiques and similar businesses make their way to Wilton Drive. “I miss the retail stores,” he offers. “It seems that the Drive has been just focusing on bars and restaurants. I really preferred when we had a good mix of retail and food and bars.” As for other changes on the Drive: “Honestly, the meters have hurt all of the businesses. I know the city needs revenue, but it has hurt.”

The growth of business at Courtyard Café’s flagship location (they have a satellite at The Depot bar in Fort Lauderdale and also own and operate Gelato Station, just down the Drive) from 60 meals (“covers” in the business) a day when Berry and Bombard purchased the restaurant to 120 covers today, and from 150 sold on Saturday and Sunday to 300, is a Drive success story worth reflecting upon in leaner times. “Here is the bottom line,” says Bombard. “Good food, good prices, get ‘em in, get ‘em out, but never let them feel neglected. It’s all about customer service.”