Chalk messages at the entrance to Café Mundo announce menu specials and events.

If it weren't for the ad in a local Newport, Oregon, coupon savings booklet, a tourist would probably pass by Café Mundo without giving it a thought. But the locals know better.In Nye Beach, Café Mundo occupies a corner lot on Coast Street, just a block from Oregon's rugged coastline. A seaside retreat since the 1800s, today Nye retains its artsy, village atmosphere despite the annual influx of summer tourists.

Million-dollar homes share seaside bluffs with beach cottages from the '50s; trendy clothing stores, a visual arts center and unique restaurants line the hilly streets.

Café Mundo definitely fits the unique restaurant category. Greg and Laurie Card first opened it in 1998 in a mobile kitchen trailer set on the vacant lot; seating was at outdoor tables. Six years later the trailer was replaced with a 12-by-14-foot permanent kitchen and the casual eating area began its transformation into garden dining.

With no indoor seating, however, the restaurant could only provide income for the Cards and their four children during Oregon's brief summer season. So in late 2005 they decided to leap into building a year-round restaurant. How they accomplished it is as unique as the final product.

"We didn't make enough profit to qualify for a bank loan," Greg Card says. "We've always been very connected with the community, so we sought local investors and they came through." The Cards also held fund-raisers and did much of the construction work themselves.

Opened in March 2007, the new Café Mundo reflects not only the owners' community orientation, but their commitment to ecologically sustainable practices. The 2,220-square-foot two-story structure, built right over the old kitchen, is supported by a pre-engineered frame of 70 percent recycled-steel beams. The exterior is composite panels; the interior walls painted plywood and farmed Sitka spruce finish-milled on site.

Redwood driftwood salvaged from the beach was used to create the barn-style doors that open the ground floor to the outdoor garden seating area. Passive solar heating keeps the interior comfortably warm most days; a natural gas fireplace fills in when needed. A 4-inch-diameter PVC pipe delivers order requests from the upstairs dining room to the kitchen below simply by gravity; a dumbwaiter lifts the filled orders to the second level.

Envisioning the café as a modern equivalent to the old neighborhood soda shop, the atmosphere is warm and casual, and definitely eclectic. Tabletops sport individually painted designs and large-scale works of local artists decorate the walls.

Dining chairs were presents on Laurie's birthday. From Café Mundo's humble beginnings in the trailer, chef Laurie Card has insisted on "green" practices. Menu items are made from scratch with fresh, locally grown or caught ingredients, many organic. Kitchen scraps are composted and recycling is standard procedure. Says Laurie, "We don't buy corporate products. Supporting local growers is part of giving back to the community."

The symbiosis of Café Mundo with the community is a major factor in its success. A relaxed, family atmosphere encourages people to hang around and visit and local musical groups frequently entertain. Greg Card describes his goal as making every visit a social gathering.

Although the restaurant is on solid footing now, several setbacks during the 16-month construction period threatened the project. "We did not adequately research the steel building company beforehand and faced a six-month delivery delay," Greg says. "We should have asked for and checked out references from prior customers before buying."

Laurie Card had not anticipated the volume of extra paperwork and supervisory responsibilities that a larger work force entails. And she says, "More space means more cleaning and maintenance as well."

The most important thing the Cards learned during the project -- aside from patience and maintaining faith in their vision -- was that hidden costs could easily bust a budget. "We thought we had considered everything, but things we couldn't imagine popped up," Laurie says. For instance, the requirements for the fire suppression system changed during construction, raising the cost considerably; in this case, however, decreased insurance rates partly offset the additional cost.

The Cards believe that their best decision was to build as much as they could personally, with the help of many friends. They estimate that it decreased the cost of construction by twothirds. Plus, they retained creative control throughout and are prepared to handle maintenance and repair themselves.

For Greg and Laurie Card, Café Mundo is a lifestyle, not a job. They live next door and spend most of their waking hours on restaurant business. For this couple -- Laurie a pastry and sushi chef and Greg a former landscaper and event promoter -- working together to make a living is a blessing.

But for them the passion is not in the creative menu or the friendly atmosphere, it's in being able to reinvest in the Nye Beach community. For the Cards the bottom line to success is to, "Connect with the local people, for they are your support base."

STARTUP STATS

Café Mundo

Reconstruction Complete: April 2007.

Bar: No.

Smoking allowed: Outside only.

Average check: Breakfast, $9 to $12; lunch, $12; dinner, $12, with specials $16 to $25.

Square feet of restaurant: 2,220 square feet of kitchen: 360 square feet Number of seats: 50 upstairs, 12 ground floor, 60 outside (seasonal).

Number of staff: 12 including the owners.

Where and how you got your financing: Community investors, fund-raising events.

Are you leasing or do you own the property? Own restaurant property, live next door.

Signature items: Mesquite grilled albacore burger with wasabi mayo; crepes filled with strawberries and housemade vanilla custard, topped with chocolate ganache and whipped cream; Dungeness crab cakes with mango-ginger chutney served with coconut saffron rice.

First or subsequent restaurant under this name: 1st restaurant, second expansion.

Hours of operation: Tuesday to Thursday, 2-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. to midnight; Sunday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Monday and also Tuesday in winter.

Advertising/Promotional Methods: Local newspapers, Nye Beach Merchants Association coupon book and word of mouth from their nine-year local following. Listing as a "Community Arts Venue"brings tourists and locals to writers group meetings, musical entertainment and outdoor theater productions in the garden.