Six men in cowboy hats and baseball caps discuss the day’s news and what’s going on in Falcon, while proprietor Mary Ginn serves up a full-fledged, country-style breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage at Rock Island Restaurant.”She serves food just like mom used to make,” local resident Jim Moyers said. “The restaurant brings us all back together.”Mary and her husband, Terry, came to Falcon in 2001 when Terry’s job with El Paso Gas brought them here from a small town in Kansas. Falcon reminded Mary Ginn of that small town, and the family settled in a home in Falcon Hills.Many locals may remember that long-time resident and developer Art Van Sant, in the 1980s, built the center that houses the Rock Island Restaurant. For some years, the space was occupied by an SS Subs restaurant.Eventually, local resident Rodney Quinn bought the property and opened Pasta Place. Ginn began working there soon after she moved to Falcon. The restaurant offered pizza and pasta for lunch and dinner.When Quinn was ready to sell, Mary Ginn told her husband that she wanted to buy the restaurant. With the help of some investors, the sale went through in October 2003. Ginn asked local patrons to help her re-name the restaurant. Many told her of the Rock Island Railroad, which used to run in front of the shopping center, and suggested she name the restaurant, the Rock Island Restaurant. Ginn was thrilled with the name.Her experience at Pasta Place was all the restaurant experience she had, but Ginn enjoyed cooking and loved being around the locals. She added breakfast to the menu, and varied the types of food for lunch and dinner.”Offering breakfast really brought people in,” said Ginn. “Prior to us opening for breakfast, there really wasn’t a coffee shop in town.”She brought in a morning cook, Mary Peterson, to help her out. The patrons love the hearty morning meal. The country-style breakfast and omelets are the most popular selections. Rock Island offers breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to noon on weekends.Mary is up early each morning, and is usually the one to close up shop at night. She has six part-time employees, and husband Terry helps her out on Friday evenings. Her eight- to 12-hour days don’t seem to faze her. She is bubbly and friendly with each customer.”We get lots of locals and families in here,” said Ginn. “They include ranchers and farmers – a melting pot of different people. Building contractors who are just here during the day stop in for lunch almost every day.”I get up everyday for my customers,” said Ginn. “I want to build up my business and make it succeed. Everyone in here is just like family. It’s as much of a gathering place as it is a restaurant. Locals even come in here to make deals for work-related projects and odd jobs.”Ginn has worked the past three years while helping raise three children. Son Eric, 20, is a reservist in the Marines and attends the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. Daughter Missy, 18, will start college this fall at the Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan. Five-year-old Gavin will start kindergarten in the fall at the Pikes Peak Expeditionary Learning Center in Falcon.Gavin has come to work with Ginn since he was a toddler, and is a regular chatterbox with the restaurant patrons. He visits with them regularly, and Ginn said they ask where he is when he is not there. He sometimes visits with other storeowners in the area, and is often seen playing with neighborhood kids outside the restaurant.Lunch is served at Rock Island Restaurant from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Ginn often offers daily specials. Tuesday lunch consists of all-you-can-eat pizza; Wednesday is fried chicken; Thursday is a Mexican buffet and Friday lunch is barbecued meats. The specials and big, fat, juicy hamburgers are a popular fare for lunch.”The hamburgers are so thick you can really sink your teeth into the meat,” Ginn said.Dinner is served from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Ginn recently bought a smoker for the meats, and is anxious to start using it.Friday night is a special dinner with baby-back ribs, barbecue chicken, 15-ounce boneless rib eye steaks and New York strip steaks the Ginns cut themselves.At Falcon’s Fourth of July Festival (July 3), the restaurant served barbecued brisket and pork, a hit with festival goers.The restaurant also has appetizers, like jalapeno poppers, beer-battered mushrooms, chili-cheese fries, onion rings and mozzarella sticks. Rock Island also offers salads, soups and chili, along with hot subs, chicken-fried steak, shrimp, fish and chips and a variety of pastas.Ginn says she loves living and working in Falcon because everyone knows her by name. “I love the ladies at the bank behind me – they all know me by name. Plus, we have everything we need here in Falcon.”I’m a people person,” Ginn said. “I have met a lot of interesting people out here, and have been heartily welcomed into the community. People are always willing to help you.”I’ll always be a small-town girl. It’s nice to look across the room and know names, not just faces.”
