LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A small cafe with a handful of tables just off of Highway 6 was buzzing on Wednesday, as regulars and fans came to pay a visit to the area’s Elvis-themed restaurant on the birthday of the ‘King of Rock and Roll.’
“It’s entirely different than any other place,” Nick Andurlakis of Nick’s Cafe said.
Nick’s has been around for more than 30 years on Simms Street in Lakewood, serving breakfast and lunch in an atmosphere that is completely covered in Elvis pictures and memorabilia.
“I knew the King of Rock and Roll real well. He was a friend of mine,” Nick said.
Andurlakis tells the story about when he was a teenager, how he worked at a fancy steakhouse called the ‘Colorado Mine Company,’ and how he met Elvis on one of his visits in Denver.
During that first visit, he says he served ‘The King’ a special sandwich that he had helped invent. It was called the “Fools Gold Sandwich,” made with peanut butter, jelly, and bacon.
“He came in and ate a few times. I got to meet him, we got to be friends,” Nick said.
“(Elvis) ate three pieces of the sandwich and that’s all he could eat and he loved it,” Nick explained with a smile.
The two would see each other whenever Elvis came through town, Nick says, so much so that the performer once gave the restaurateur a gold cross necklace of his. Nick still wears it to this day.
“Elvis has always been number one in my life,” he explained.
On Wednesday, Nick’s Cafe was nearly at capacity for a good portion of the morning and into the afternoon, with Elvis fans coming in to pay tribute on his birthday and eat a Fool’s Gold that Nick prepared specifically for the day.
To take a peek inside the one-of-a-kind cafe, click on the video above.
