Fresh, friendly make two Beck’s eateries local favorites

By CHRISTINE HAWES - chawes@bradenton.com

“She has never once delivered it to us in the same way,” says DiMaggio of Beck’s co-owner Uschi Beck. “Whether it’s the way she’ll take raspberries and put them on those long toothpicks with the little fuzzy stuff on the end, or the way she uses grapes, or how she’ll take that salmon and wrap it around the actual rings of onion … it’s unbelievable!”

DiMaggio is just one of many loyal followers of what you might call the tiny little Beck dynasty. It includes not only Beck’s Bistro on Old Main Street, which opened in 2009, but Beck’s Café & Restaurant, formerly known as Cool Beans, which opened in 2006 on East Manatee Avenue.

Werner Beck, also co-owner, enjoys mingling with customers, while his wife, Uschi, is more focused on ensuring the kitchen is working smoothly.

Uschi Beck gets much of the eateries’ fresh produce from local farmers and the downtown farmers market and grows her own fresh herbs on-site at the restaurant. Her collection of antique dishes — left over from Memory Lane, the antique shop she used to run on Old Main Street — dot the lobby of the original restaurant. And both locations carry highlights of German cuisine including wiener/jaeger schnitzel and “braids,” which are puff pastries filled with cheese, vegetables and meat.

“I like that it’s fresh, always fresh,” says Cass Mowery, who has been a regular at the restaurant for years. “And instead of hash browns — although they’ll make you hash browns if you want them, they’ll just shred the potato — you can get a German pancake.”

Werner Beck first learned of Bradenton as a vacationer, while he was living in Lynchburg, Va. He moved here in 2002 and spent six months visiting every southwest Florida community from Naples to Tampa before deciding he wanted to settle in Bradenton.

Uschi joined Werner a few years later from Sweden. While still running his own company as an electrical systems consultant to the military, Beck decided to embark on his lifelong dream of starting his own restaurant, and Uschi joined in, shuttering Memory Lane but putting much of its inventory to use in the restaurant’s decor.

Beck’s Cool Beans Restaurant quickly outgrew its first location and moved a few blocks west to its current spot at 611 Manatee Ave. E. Uschi’s love of downtown Bradenton, which reminded her of sleepy, homey European towns, inspired the couple to take on a second location along Old Main Street.

The original restaurant, now named Beck’s Café & Restaurant, continues to pull in its loyal breakfast and lunchtime following. The downtown Beck’s Bistro, now offering nightly dinner, is doing twice as much business as the original, Werner Beck says.

The downtown location also is a favorite gathering spot for people such as Bill Galvano, attorney and former legislator, who says it’s the perfect spot for networking.

“They have great espresso. It has a nice density to it and is done just right,” says Galvano, who also is a fan of Beck’s curry chicken salad sandwiches.

The Becks say one secret to their success is providing an upscale dining experience at affordable prices; lunch specials are regularly available for just $5.90. Uschi also says her former training as a nurse helped her value the importance of fresh food prepared in a healthy way.

Mark Schnelle, a former Realtor who has advised the Becks on each of their three locations, chalks up the couple’s success to Werner’s “absolute go-getter” approach.

“He’s one to throw caution to the wind and make things happen, and he does things right,” Schnelle says. “He doesn’t go halfway; he does everything all the way.”