BY WIL CREWS
SPORTSCREWS@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
OPELIKA —
Next Level Café in Opelika celebrated one year of business March 16.
Best described as “Elevated American cuisine,” Next Level Café came to Opelika via owners Tim and Suzanne Lowery, the owners of former Opelika restaurant Susie K’s.
Next Level Café, located at 1006 1st Ave., is a passion project for the Lowerys. It offers all-day breakfast and serves lunch and dinner. When the restaurant first opened, the Lowerys enlisted the help of local chef Jeremy Vines, owner of Obsidian Catering, to help train the staff in order to bring their high-end vision to life.
“Creating the menu for Next Level was a fun experience,” Tim said. “We had lots of testing to see what we loved and didn’t.”
One year on, the Lowerys’ vision has taken shape, and Next Level Café has become a familiar and favorited community stop.
“In the last year we have seen so much support from our community and have received lots of positive comments on the restaurant and the changes we made in the building and the love of the food,” Tim said.
As with any new business, however, Next Level Café has faced its fair share of challenges in year one. Luckily, according to Tim, the restaurant has been able to fill in the cracks when they appear.
“With any business that’s new to the organization there are always pushback and challenges,” he said. “Staffing has been a struggle for us and many other restaurants in the area. We have learned that we are our biggest supporters and always fill in where needed.”
Next Level Café has seen a number of changes come to its menu since opening in 2022.
“Over the last year you can see that several menu items have been added after lots of feedback from customers asking for more,” Tim said. “And now we have added several of our favorites from Susie K’s including the omelet and now the cinnamon roll pancakes, which are better than before.”
Some of Next Level Café’s most commonly ordered menu items include (for brunch) cheesecake stacked French toast, shrimp and grits, omelet and the next level burger. And (for dinner) the bacon-wrapped sweet chili glazed meatloaf and both pork chop dishes.
As for what’s next? The Lowerys said they are always looking for ways to improve but will continue to serve their guests with “elevated” American cuisine and hospitality.
“We are always looking at items to add to the menu,” Tim said. “We have been working on our bar menu to add more requested items as well as looking at menu items to add.”