Longtime employees of beloved Burlingame eatery Alana's Cafe purchase business from retired owners

For more than 30 years, Alana's Cafe had been serving homemade breakfast and lunch in Burlingame. 

Recently, the owners of the cozy café had announced that they will be retiring. But instead of shutting its doors, its longtime employees stepped up to the plate. 

"I've been working here for almost 30 years. I started when I was 28," Guadalupe Cordero told CBS News Bay Area. 

If you ever tried the signature Swedish oatmeal pancakes at Alana's Cafe, you've probably met Cordero. 

"I've known some families that have kids. And now the kids are having families," Cordero said. "So, it's been an amazing journey for me."

But she's not the only one. Many staff members have worked there for decades. Cordero started working as a server, and she still does. But, she has another title under her belt now. 

"The owners were actually going to retire. And they decided to sell us, the employees, the business," she said. "And we were very happy for this new journey."

Cordero and four other former employees now co-own the cafe. 

"It's been a family restaurant on our end as well as people raising their families in here as well," Francesca Tashjian, who had co-founded Alana's Cafe with business partner Teresa, told CBS News Bay Area. 

Tashjian shared that after spending decades in the food business, it was time for change.

"It's been a great long run. And we both wanted to just experience something different about it," Tashjian said. "And it just was perfect because these employees we have known since they were young people, that it was just a perfect opportunity for them to take over," she said. 

Tashjian is now a consultant for the new owners. 

"Truly, if anyone deserves upward mobility, it's the people that worked here. The love they show the community, everybody gets a hug. Everybody's family and if somebody is sick, they'll call to make sure you're okay," longtime customer Sheila Dukas-Janakos said. "As opposed to some big corporation that comes in and sets up and doesn't really care about the surrounding people, these people care. And you want to be around people who care. I think people are craving that nowadays." 

Cordero agrees. 

"Some of us has started off as dishwashers," she said. "So, and they grow themselves to be owners now. We've been working very hard."

With a new lease, Cordero reassured that they're not going anywhere. 

"For now, we have five more years. Hopefully, we'll have a couple more. But for now, we have five years," she said. "I love my job."