Kumback and celebrate

Beloved cafe celebrates 100 years of serving a community with comfort food and memories.

At 5:30 a.m., the lights flick on along Delaware Street in downtown Perry and the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls drifts onto the square. By breakfast, the booths are full and the counter hums with conversation. It has looked a lot like this for 100 years.

Kumback Lunch, established in 1926 with six bar stools, a counter and a modest EAT sign, will celebrate its centennial April 25 through May 2. The faithful small-town diner is known as one of the oldest cafés in Oklahoma.

Founded by Eddie Parker and operated by him and his wife Kate until 1972, the Kumback began as a tiny storefront where Parker grilled hamburgers and visited with customers from behind the bar. Ownership has changed hands only three times in a century. After the Parkers came Tony and Marilee Macias, and today the Boschee family now turns on the lights and flips the burgers.

Scott Boschee, who previously operated a local food truck, stepped into the Kumback kitchen in June 2025.

“I’m grateful to Marilee for entrusting my family with the legacy that she poured into for more than 50 years,” Boschee said. “We vow to build on it favorably.”

The slogan reads “Serving Nostalgia on a Plate,” and a glance around the dining room makes that clear. Hundreds of photographs line the walls, covering nearly every inch of space. Generations of Perry residents look back from black and white snapshots and color portraits. Local celebrities, families, visitors passing through town, and even the outlaw Pretty Boy Floyd have a place in the frames.

The food has always been the anchor. From the beginning, the café served home-style cooking that felt like Sunday dinner. The menu features chicken-fried steak, hand-pressed burgers, famous handcut fries, and chicken noodles. Pies have long been a calling card, but the Kumback’s delicious cheesecakes and mouthwatering cinnamon rolls are today’s favorite.

During the anniversary week, the Kumback will lean into its roots. Daily specials will commemorate favorites from original menus dating back to 1926. Guests are invited to dine in and sample dishes that have sustained the café for a century.

The official celebration begins Saturday, April 25, with a concert and street dance on the square, billed as a party 100 years in the making. Tables will spill into the street and music will carry across downtown.

On Friday, May 1 at 11 a.m., the café will host a centennial ceremony with state and local dignitaries. The program will include a presentation and proclamation. Guests are invited to stay for lunch afterward, a fitting way to honor a restaurant built on shared meals.

The festivities will extend beyond the café doors. The Cherokee Strip Museum in Perry will host a special exhibit from May 8 to June 8 honoring the Kumback Lunch. The collection of memorabilia has been gifted by former owner Marilee Macias as a tribute to the local landmark. Visitors can expect a look back at the diner’s early days, its longtime owners and the community that has filled its seats.

During anniversary week, the crowd may look a little bigger and the music a little louder, but the heart of the café will remain the same. Neighbors will gather at the counter. Visitors will step inside for the first time. Plates of comfort food will pass around tables just as they have for a century, and perhaps some new photographs will join the old ones on the wall.

“We look forward to celebrating this milestone with our community and plan to bring the same energy, customer service, and product quality our customers expect,” Boschee adds, “Cheers to the first 100 years and welcome into the next 100 years!”

In Perry, the Kumback does not just serve meals. It serves memories, one plate at a time.