Full Moon Cafe is once again open in a smaller but cozier location, but with the same wonderful owners as before.
After being awarded the Yelp NC Triad Squad Yelper of the Year 2024 Award at the Yelpies Award Ceremony last year, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, celebrating their contributions and accomplishments throughout the year, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and businesses, and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to uncover those found in hidden paths that for one reason or another have not reached the public in its totality. And the Full Moon Cafe, in Cave Spring, Virginia, is a perfect example.
After the close and retirement of the Korean natives, husband and wife, co-owners of the Full Moon Café, and a beloved couple of our community, we all missed this delightful and passionate couple who made our breakfasts and lunches so entertaining and wonderful, not only for their amazing in-house made bakery items like bagels, croissants, pastries, and chocolate chips cookies, to name a few, but for their warm and cheerful personalities.
But we understood that there comes a time when people grow older and are supposed to retire, so we wished them well as they left for a month vacation trip to their country of origin, Korea, to visit relatives and recall meaningful places from their youth. But after they returned from their trip, they spent hours at home with nothing to do and became bored. This actually missed their Cafe and the satisfaction they got from the work they did there and their customers who filled them with compliments.
As a college student in a prestigious University, I once was asked to write a paper answering this question: "If money wasn't a problem, would you rather live a life of all work, or a life of all play?" Most of the students answered right away, "Of all play, of all play. I work because I have to to pay the bills." But I decided to go research the topic before I came out with an answer. And what I found will amaze you. The correct answer is neither. We need to work to feel fullfiling and tired. Works gives meaning to our lives at the same time that it entertains us, and makes our leisure time more relaxed and meaningful. Just as hunger makes our food more desirable and satisfying.
So it is natural why owner Francis Moon and his wife have come out of retirement and in November 2025 the cafe reopened at a renovated space, just a few doors down from its previous spot, in the Shoppes at West Village complex.
Today, after finding out the good news yesterday, I woke up early in the morning, and drove down to their new place to welcome them back and have breakfast there. I found the restaurant to have a warmer and cozier ambiance compared to their previous one. It could be a combination of the smaller size, the decor, the lighting treatment, and the location in which the morning sun shines on it from the front.
The owners were pleased to see me, just as I was to see them return. After serving me a cup of coffee to drink, they took my breakfast order of an Onion Bagel with Cream Cheese to start with, and two fried eggs over easy with bacon, home fries, and white toast. The breakfast was very good. As I was eating it, other customers arrived and also were glad to see them back and welcome them back. A little girl, that came with her dad to pick up an order of bagels, was delighted to see the amazing cookies one again, that Mr Moon gave her one and she cherished it and wrapped it up in a napkin to take home and have it later.
I totally recommend this restaurant to all and encourage you to give them your total support, in appreciation for there return and their amazing service to our community through what they do best. read more