Paw Paw’s Sweet Shop & Cafe open on State Street in Garland

Sandwich and dessert shop capitalizes on the revival taking place around State Street in Garland.

GARLAND — There's a revival taking place around State Street in Garland where Paw Paw's Sweet Shop & Cafe opened in May. The space was previously occupied by the quaint Patricia's Diner, which closed over the holidays. Paw Paw's has a bigger menu, including breakfast sandwiches, burritos, pasta salads, cakes, pies, and cookies, and last but not least a big selection of fountain treats, including shakes, malts, and ice cream sodas.

Owner Cheri Stigler decided to get back into the restaurant business because the youngest of her three kids was about to head off to college.

"Restaurants are in your blood -- it's a curse," she says. "I had a similar restaurant in El Paso 20 years ago, an old-fashioned soda shop, and decided it was time to do it again."

Another incentive was the fact her 21-year-old son likes the restaurant business, and she saw it as something they could do together. They bought all of the equipment at auctions and did all the decorating themselves.

"I don't care that my tables don't match, but I won't skimp on food quality," she says. "No iceberg lettuce, it has to be Romaine."

Her most expensive sandwich is the El Paso club, grilled chicken with pepper jack cheese, for $5.89; her most popular item is the chicken salad sandwich and it's a mere $4.29.

"The chicken salad is all white meat, and it's not oozing with mayo, we do half mayo and half sour cream, with celery chopped finely and no onions," she says.

Patricia's, her predecessor, closed at 3 p.m. For now, they're closing at 6 p.m., in anticipation of a high-end apartment complex that's scheduled to open nearby.

"I was considering closing earlier, but the day I decided to try it, we had more business between 3 and 6 p.m. than we'd had all day," she says. "Being this new, you hate to make any decisions in the summer months. I'll go into fall before I decide what to do."