Cafe Red Cherry has set up in the Firebrace Street premises of the former Cafe Red with the name of the Red Cherry Food Bar.

Ms Rogers said Mr Harding’s family members ran a cafe in Warrnambool that served as the inspiration for their business.

“We’ve got the booths and the jukebox,” she said.

“We’ve taken their menu, which is all home-cooked food and slices.

“The Warrnambool cafe is a roaring success, and we thought if we do half as well as they do, we’ll be happy.”

Ms Rogers said the new furniture and row of booths was inspired by the seats from a hot rod car.

“It’s more car-themed than everything and weren’t not limited to an era like the 1950s,” she said.

“There are songs on the jukebox from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and even some from the 90s. 

“We try to cater for everyone.”

Just about everything in the cafe is new, including fridges and an espresso machine.

The Cafe Cafe Red Cherry name came about at the last minute.

Ms Rogers said they first bought the business name Cafe Red.

“We wanted to get the name Red Cherry but we couldn’t get that.

“But then two days before we opened my partner Mr Harding was trawling websites and saw we could get Red Cherry again,” Ms Rogers said.

“So we decided to combine the two names.”

MS Rogers said the menu featured both new and traditional cafe food.

“The only things I buy in are pies and some gluten free slices,” she said.

After almost one month in operation, Ms Rogers said they Cafe had begun to attract regulars.

“The first week we had the Old Skool Hotrod and Custom Club come in.,” she said.

“They usually go on a cruise on Friday night with about half a dozen people but they put it on Facebook and got about 32 people there on the night.

“They really enjoyed it and they’re coming back.”

The retro decor has also attracted rock and rollers who want to hold a 1950s event and some the old Cafe Red devotees have come in to try the new version.

Ms Rogers said the biggest challenge so far was establishing an entirely new roster of staff.

“Because the place was closed for three months, all the old staff had moved on,” she said.

“We had to train all new staff and now that we have staff down pat we want people to know we’re open.”