ST. JOHN | It's hard to find Comforts, the small, family-style restaurant Jack Mix recently opened in a St. John's industrial park.

No signs point the way to the establishment on Industrial Drive, and the budget's currently too tight for an advertising blitz. But despite their absence, Mix says Comforts should be able to attract customers because of his culinary reputation.

"We're using word of mouth so friends and people we've served in the past will find us and give us a try," said Mix, who owns and operates the business with his wife, Beverly.

The Mixes operated Hoosier Café in Schererville from 1994 to 2001 when their Comfort's Catering business outgrew the restaurant's physical capabilities.

"We built our production facility in St. John for catering and we couldn't be in two places at one time," he said. "Now that's not a problem."

The nonsmoking restaurant's 40-seat dining room offers comfort foods -- eggs, pancakes, soups, sandwiches and specials -- at breakfast and lunch daily except Saturdays. It will add a Sunday breakfast buffet and be open for dinner in the near future, Mix said.

"The room is eclectic," he said. "Some tables have white table cloths, but I wouldn't call it a white table cloth restaurant. We tried to create a cozy atmosphere, a kind of comfortable cottage feel."

A chef and caterer for more than 40 years, Mix established the restaurant because it was the only way he could procure the liquor license needed to allow his company, Comfort's Catering, to serve alcohol at Munster's Cloister in the Woods, where it holds the catering contract, and at other functions it caters.

Comfort's Catering also operates Red Hawk Café at Indiana University Northwest and does the majority of the catering for the college.

Mix, who teaches Culinary Arts at Ivy Tech, purchased the liquor license from it's prior owner for an undisclosed amount in November when it became available.

"The only way to get a three-way (wine, beer and spirits) liquor license is to have a restaurant," Mix said. "A liquor license is that important to the business and a response to economic times. It's another way to generate revenue. If you can grasp an opportunity you have to do it."

The 40-seat St. John eatery, which also serves alcohol, occupies 1,800 square-feet of space next to the catering facility, which operates the kitchen for both establishments.

"We took over a bay in the building and tried to make it attractive," Mix said. "I didn't have to build a kitchen."

But he still needed to invest between $15,000 and $17,000 in the venture, which came from personal savings and a business loan. Although the amount is modest by business standards, any restaurant venture is "very scary," Mix said.

"So you have to be able to trust in yourself and have confidence in your abilities," he said. "But you can't be overconfident because reality is always there, ready to squash your plans."

Comforts

When opened: Jan. 26

Location: 9585 N. Industrial Drive, St. John

Phone: (219) 365-6506

Type of business: Restaurant

Owner: Jack Mix

Number of employees: Seven