Soon there'll be one more restaurant on the Maplewood scene, at least, right on the edge of Maplewood.

Brentwood High School 2002 graduate Anna Sidel, has partnered with Jonathan Jones to start up the Southwest Diner, on Southwest Avenue just east of the Maplewood city limit.

The location is fortunate, because they’ve spent time in New Mexico, and plan on serving Southwest–flavored food for breakfast and lunch. “Southwest on Southwest,” is painted on the window.

They’ll be open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch. It will be a combination of southwestern and traditional diner food.

“We’re going to have New Mexican specialties,” Sidel said. “A lot of Mexican ingredients, that are really easy to combine into breakfast foods like burritos and tacos and huevos rancheros.” Jones said he lived in New Mexico for a while.

They plan on focusing on locally raised meats and local eggs.

“It’s kind of fun to do something a little different than the average diner,” Sidel said. “Tiffany’s Diner in Maplewood is really close, and they’re competition. There’s Chris’s Pancake House, so we’re trying to differentiate ourselves.”

Sidel worked at Sonic for two years while at Brentwood High School, then moved to Hawaii and worked with an aunt in the restaurant business while going to college to learn the business side.

“I like the business side of it, and I love cooking, so I’ll probably be in the back most of the time,” Sidel said. “Jon will be watching the front of the house.”

They’ve sold breakfast tacos at the Tower Grove Famer’s Market for two years, and branded themselves as Southwest Diner in the process. They’re hoping word of mouth from those contacts will help get them going.

They've been at Tower Grove “every Saturday from 8-4 serving breakfast tacos,” Sidel said. “We’ve met a lot of people and told to them about this.”