Enjoying lunch at Creighton’s Crazy Egg, from left are Shari Benyousky, Paul Finley, ool Fedora Jeff Owens, Tony Garza, Vicky Owens and Lori Roe.

By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Column Note: This is the forty-seventh column in the Diners and Dives series in which a small group of Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club members and their guests road trip to explore the restaurants of Kosciusko and the surrounding area.

It’s Fry-Day

What’s a speech coach’s favorite breakfast? A well-prepared egg-splanation with a side of confidence, of course. We had both eggs and coaches in the house on Friday for March 1 – National Speech and Debate Day – when we ate lunch at Creighton’s Crazy Egg Café & Coffee Bar at 4221 W. Old Road 30.

Drive west past the CCAC, and you’ll find it on the south side of the road next to the grain elevators.

Along with the eggs, we hosted new WCHS Speech Coach Lori Roe and Optimist Oratorical Contest Chair Jeff Owens to talk … well … about talk. And eat.

Hatch A Plan

Creighton Brothers elevators west of Warsaw.

Creighton’s isn’t just a café. The organization farms over 10,000 acres and keeps 3 million egg-laying hens right here in Kosciusko County, USA. They say things are “fresh from the farm.” Years ago, brothers Hobart and Russell Creighton rescued a failed hog-house operation by switching to Leghorn chickens and learning everything from the ground up.

“You’re right to come early. Especially on the Friday lunch rush,” our waitress Kat told me as she pushed a few tables together. By noon, Creighton’s had filled up with people, many dressed casually in overalls, baseball hats, comfy plaid shirts, and jeans.

Before you order, you can get a coffee concoction from the coffee bar and choose from a long row of flavorings or check out the colorful displays of merchandise like socks or mints with cool puns. You can also grab a carton of fresh eggs or a bag of pre-boiled eggs.

That’s Scrambled

Creighton’s has an extensive menu from avocado toast to Scotch eggs to breaded tenderloins on brioche. 1st Source Banker Paul Finley usually gets the tenderloin, but today something else on the menu lured him away. “I’ll have the macaroni and cheese, please,” he said to our waitress Kat.

She wanted to know what side he wanted. “Just so you know. The most popular side for mac and cheese is mac and cheese,” she laughed. “People really love their mac and cheese, I guess.” Paul got mac and cheese with a side of mac and cheese with bacon crumbles.

Brittany Lyon opted for the ever-popular soup and salad combo. “Canadian cheddar.” She paused shaking pepper on it to pull out her phone and show me a picture of her adorable early-arriving nephew Callum. How could I not include a cute baby picture? Welcome to the world, Callum.

Sunny Side Up

Cornbread donuts and cinnamon biscuit roll.

Kat suggested that we start by ordering cornbread donuts. “What?!” I stopped writing. “Cornbread. donuts? Yes please!”

“And one of those cinnamon biscuit roll things too,” REMAX Jeff Owens suggested. They both arrived in tiny cast-iron skillets gleaming with cinnamon and sugar and drizzled in frosting. We passed wedges around. If you remember one tip from this article, remember: Do. Not. Miss. These.

Wildcard Guest WCHS Speech Coach Lori Roe took the little pan passed from Vicky Owens. “You don’t have to twist my arm to try these.” Lori also teaches in the communications department at the Warsaw Ivy Tech. “I’m the communications department,” she said. “By myself.”

“So, you can say without me there would be NO department?” Attorney Tony Garza grinned as he arranged his southwest skillet with guacamole and sunny-side-up eggs.

Coming Out Of Their Shells

Lori Roe with her Words Matter T-shirt.

Lori also took over the job as WCHS Speech Coach last fall. She fielded a large team of 25 students and many of them qualified for state competitions. “It’s tough to compete,” she said. “Plymouth High School is Warsaw’s biggest competitor. They have SEVEN paid coaches on staff. Here it’s just me and a parent assistant.” Warsaw and Plymouth are part of the NSDA National Speech and Debate Association.

Students can choose from 14 events in either the public address or the interpretive areas. There are sections for everyone including drama, humor, impromptu speaking, and even a full-table discussion. During speech season, the students have speech meets every other weekend.

“Sometimes people describe speaking as a soft skill. That drives me crazy,” Coach Roe gestured with her grilled chicken sandwich in one hand. “Speech is a multiplier skill. It multiples every other skill beyond the basics. If you know how to communicate and problem solve, you’ll be fine anywhere.” I took the pause in the conversation to put down my pen and spear a forkful of my enormous sunrise salad with Belgian waffle croutons. Creighton’s makes maple balsamic vinaigrette dressing in-house too.

Oratorical Contest Soon

“So, how many of your speech team members are under 19 years of age?” REMAX and Warsaw Oratorical Contest Chair Jeff Owens asked. “We’d like to have them come and compete with us too.” The club annually offers the oratorical contest with excellent cash prizes to a maximum of 20 contestants. If you’d like to be a contestant, follow the instructions at this link. If you’d like to watch and cheer them on, come to the Old Courthouse Courtroom on the second floor on Sunday, March 24. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. and the contest begins at 1 p.m.

Just like WCHS Speech Coach Lori Roe, the Optimists have two goals for our contestants: growth and fun. As Lori added, “Like I tell my own kids, winning is icing on the cake.”

Which Came First?

Exterior of Creighton’s Crazy Egg Cafe & Coffee Bar.

So, get out to Creighton’s to eat breakfast or lunch and enjoy National Speech and Debate Day. “It’s also National Peanut Butter Day,” Vicky Owens added as we packed our leftovers in cartons. Portions at Creighton’s are generous.

Coach Roe ate one last twisty fry and frowned. “What a combination. It’d be really hard to give a speech with peanut butter in your mouth, right?”

“Come back again!” waved Kat as she tidied our table.

Do you know of an interesting place, restaurant, nonprofit, or person that you’d like to see featured in Diners and Dives, Whirlwind Wanderlust Travels, or Profiles Behind the Scenes? Send SB Communications LLC Shari Benyousky an email at [email protected].