SANFORD, Fla. – Christina Hollerbach is carrying on her parents’ life-long dream.
“My parents always wanted to run their own restaurant and obviously my dad, being from Germany, wanted it to be a German restaurant,” she said.
That dream became a reality in 2001, when her parents bought Willow Tree Cafe. The restaurant was tiny then but has since ballooned with the success of the business.
“They actually bought the restaurant with 60 seats and six employees for $60,000,” Hollerbach said. “And of course, since then, we now have about 160 employees and see almost 10,000 guests a week between all of our businesses.”
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Hollerbach’s German Restaurant has since taken over a large portion of the building it sits in. The family has also expanded to have a market, selling baked goods and imported meats, and an outfitter full of authentic German costumes and outfits.
In the more than 20 years since the restaurant first opened, Hollerbach has taken the reins of the business as its CEO.
Hollerbach said the businesses are selling more than just food. They are selling a feeling of warmth and friendliness expressed best by the German word gemütlichkeit.
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“That’s what we’re trying to achieve all the time for these guests,” she said. “It’s why people like to celebrate special occasions here because you get that energy and like yes, the food is a huge part of it because it adds to that experience, but it is just one part of it.”
Part of that effort to provide a cozy experience is by offering something for everyone, including its main restaurant which mimics a German beer hall with live music, a lodge for more of a bar atmosphere and the upstairs restaurant, Uber Keller, which offers a more laid back experience and serves German tapas.
Hollerback feels as though the restaurant has helped to drive some change in Sanford — helping to take it from a sleepy suburb to a destination.
“I would definitely consider us as a catalyst of making people believe that Sanford had a nightlife and a future because, you know, (the restaurant) was lunch only and we used to open for dinner on just Fridays and Saturdays and we would have like 10 covers. Now, there’s a line out the door,” she said.
Hollerbach is very active in the community as well. She is an advocate for the city and works closely with the Sanford Main Street organization to push for improvements in the city.
“I can still pause and appreciate and be grateful for what is happening right now while still simultaneously going ‘Alright, well, we got to fix this,” she said.
On the latest episode of Florida Foodie, Hollerbach shares more of her family’s history and how it is woven into the fabric of the restaurant. She also shares some of the food that can be found there with Lisa Bell and Candace Campos.
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