Mother/Daughter Team Offers Great Food And Hospitality

For nearly 20 years the mother/daughter team of Ginger and Gayle Sampson worked together at various dining places in the greater Fox Valley area and dreamed about going into business together somewhere in a restaurant of their own.

On July 1, 2022 they did just that, when they opened G&G Diner at N15087 Dutton Road, adjacent to Amberg Pub, which is just west of Hwy. 141 in downtown Amberg.

They are becoming increasingly well known for serving spectacularly delicious food - especially gourmet pancakes, of all things - with friendly conversation in a welcoming atmosphere from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, and 6 a.m. to  8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. They’re closed on Tuesdays.

Ginger said she has spent over 40 years cooking in fine dining establishments and supper clubs. Gayle’s first job was at Michaels Restaurant in Menasha. Later, she and Gayle were both employed for 21 and 18 years respectively at Mohnen's Darboy Family Restaurant in Appleton.

In 2021 Ginger’s husband Randy retired and fell in love with their retirement home, a cabin in the woods in Amberg that they purchased in November of 2021. After spending some time there the entire Sampson family fell in love with the Amberg area.

They were impressed with the welcoming atmosphere of the community, and how readily they were accepted.

Ginger said they spent some time at the Amberg Pub, networking with people and getting to meet their neighbors. Often their talk would turn to food and restaurants.

The neighbors they met included  Norma and Gordy Szalanski, who own the building in which G&G Diner and Amberg Pub are located. The Amberg Pub portion of the building had been leased by Nikki and Andy Wiedemeier from the Szalanski’s about three years earlier, and the Sampsons learned that the restaurant portion might be available to lease. After meeting the Wiedemeier’s they knew it was the right fit to pair up and work together to bring good food, drinks and fun to Amberg. They began talking to the Szalanski’s about that possibility in February of 2022, and those conversations led to them opening the restaurant on July 1.

Ginger said the decision to go into business with her daughter was an easy one. Gayle, on the other hand, was a little hesitant at first due to her move. At age 36 she hesitated to leave her younger friends in the Appleton/Menasha area to live with her parents “up north” in Amberg.

However, things fell into place, and the dream of being in business together became a reality in the form of the G&G Diner. Now, just a few months later, there are seven employees in addition to Ginger and Gayle.

The diner itself can seat 53 patrons at a time. They also take orders for customers in the Amberg Pub next door and offer catering service for weddings and other special events, and have diversified by preparing single-serving “take and bake” meals for customers to enjoy later at their homes and cabins. Take and Bakes will be coming soon.

Their main specialty item is an incredible list of pancakes, all made entirely from scratch. The most popular is the Cinnamon Roll Pancake, followed by Lemon Blueberry, and then, not necessarily in order, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip, Strawberry, Cherry Cheesecake, and more. This writer can personally testify that the Cinnamon Roll Pancake is even spectacularly delicious when it’s taken home and re-heated.

Ginger feels secrets to success for their family business, in addition to serving really great food, are providing equally great service, keeping everything extremely clean, doing minor renovations to improve functionality as needed, learning as you go, training employees, controlling cash crises that may arise, and taking things in stride, one step at a time. She said when they first opened the diner they even rang doorbells to invite customers to come in and enjoy what they had to offer.

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