Escalon natives open new downtown restaurant to complement their two other Main Street shops

Like many smaller Central Valley cities, Escalon has struggled to bring people downtown.

So instead of just waiting for people to find their newest downtown business, Jamie and Rylan Butler have built their own foot traffic. The married couple opened their latest endeavor, Relish, at the end of February. The new cafe offers a fresh, focused menu highlighting local produce and more for breakfast and lunch.

The Main Street restaurant is just the latest business the pair have opened in their hometown. The Escalon natives also own The Butler’s Pantry, a home and kitchen store, and Poppy on Main, a children’s clothing and gift shop, along the same one-block stretch downtown.

The three businesses have helped to bring more people to the south San Joaquin County city’s historic Main Street and have built a following from across the region over the past decade.

For Jamie Butler, who grew up in Escalon but moved away as soon as she graduated high school, her homecoming and transformation into the owner of a local business mini-empire was entirely unexpected. After leaving town, she worked as a buyer for a retail shop and in interior design in Southern California and Oregon.

When she became pregnant with her first child, the family moved back home. While she said there wasn’t much happening downtown at the time, they knew it had potential. Jamie and Rylan, a fifth-generation Escalon native, now have two boys, ages 12 and 8.

“Main Street has been a ghost town, and we knew we could revive it and we knew Escalon needed things like this,” Butler said.

The Butler’s Pantry began in 2013 as a mobile homegoods business by the same name. She took the mobile truck to farmers markets and street fairs in San Francisco and around the region. Then in 2014, she started working on opening a storefront for the business.

They started in a smaller space on Main Street, then expanded to the former downtown butcher shop location, which they converted into an eclectic and welcoming store filled with home and kitchen items. Then, in 2021, they opened their second business, Poppy on Main. The children’s store has clothing, accessories and gift items — and sits in the original The Butler’s Pantry location a few doors down from its current location.

The Butlers said the popularity of The Butler’s Pantry, which in 2022 was named best U.S. home retail store by the International Housewares Association, organically spawned the other businesses. Families would come in with their kids, which led to them opening Poppy on Main. And after customers flocked to their ongoing cooking classes, led by chef Stephanie Nagle, they decided to launch Relish to showcase her food.

The restaurant also serves another not-so-secret purpose — keeping people downtown after (or before) they come to their shops and other downtown businesses.

Relish, with executive chef Nagle at the helm, offers a small selection of breakfast, lunch and small-bite plates. They include avocado toast, house-made granola bowls, flatbreads, daily sandwiches and salads (ranging in price from $12 to $17 a dish).

Nagle’s goal with Relish was to highlight the Valley’s abundant produce. Relish will change its menu seasonally and is using fresh fruits and vegetables from Ratto Bros. The restaurant’s motto is “produce reimagined,” but don’t fret, meat lovers: Relish serves more than just veggies.

“This area has so many hidden gems in terms of produce and delicious foods made here,” Nagle said. “We just want to create good food that people want to come back and eat.”

The restaurant also serves draft beer and has a wine selection from Modesto-based Bestie Club + Bottle, a local subscription and curation service from Marissa and Wyatt Smith, who just opened their own small breakfast and lunch spot, Lucille, in downtown Modesto.

Since opening Relish in late February, Butler said they’ve seen many customers from their other stores migrate over and spread news of the new eatery largely by word of mouth.

“They’re created something unique here (with their other businesses) so we know they have great taste,” said Escalon resident Katie Mensonides, who brought her mother with her to check out the restaurant for the first time earlier this week.

Relish, at 1754 Main St. in Escalon, is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Saturday. For more information call 209-730-4063 or visit www.relishfresheatery.com.