Balancing town hall meetings and the dinner table, Gurley mayor Shawn Kruse serves up community spirit and hearty, homemade food at Outlaws Cafe.
MARK KESZLER
Nspire Today! Feature Writer
GURLEY – In the small town of Gurley, where community ties run as deep as the Nebraska cornfields, Shawn Kruse is a man of many hats. As both the owner of the beloved Outlaws Cafe and the newly elected mayor, Kruse has found a way to balance the demands of local leadership with his lifelong passion for quality, homemade cooking.
From Racing Roots to a Cozy Cafe
The origins of the Outlaws Cafe trace back to 1999 when Shawn and his wife, Janella, returned to Gurley with a vision. The couple purchased an old bar and ran it through the year 2009. Then after leaving the bar business, Shawn and his wife decided to manage a cafe in a different location and transformed it into a warm and inviting establishment – a place where locals and travelers alike could enjoy hearty meals and fresh coffee.
Drawing inspiration from their shared love of sprint car racing, a pastime enjoyed by both Janella’s family and Kruse himself, they named their new venture “Outlaws Cafe.”
“We enjoyed sprint car racing together, and it was something that brought our families close,” Shawn said. “Naming the cafe after that passion was a natural fit for us.”
You can read the entire story in the March 2025 issue of Nspire Today! magazine. A one-year subscription (12 issues) is only $20. You may sign up for a subscription by sending $20 to Nspire Today!, P.O. Box 454, Scottsbluff, NE 69363, or you may pay with a credit card by calling 308-220-8907.
The current issue of Nspire Today! magazine is available at locations listed below.
