AMHERST — Come the new year, Kelly’s Restaurant, a staple of the Amherst dining scene for nearly 30 years, will transition to a new owner who intends to restore some past favorites, including a lunch menu, and give the spot a new name, all while maintaining the sense of camaraderie among customers and staff.
“Kelly’s is a great place for community,” said KaiQi Herzig, a Colrain resident who is buying Kelly’s Restaurant from Steve O’Brien. “I hear that it’s ‘Cheers’ without alcohol, a lot.”
Herzig’s decision to run a restaurant comes as he returns from spending the past year traveling across the United States. He said he happened to see the “for sale” sign in the window while shopping at Mom’s House Convenience Store, located in the same College Street plaza, and, becoming acquainted with the big following that Kelly’s has throughout the morning, jumped at the opportunity to take over.
He also appreciated the sense of community and the feeling of a big family. “I didn’t realize how important that was for me,” Herzig said.
Herzig, who had been looking for a restaurant for four months, is no stranger to the food service industry. A decade ago, when he was 16, he began working in area coffee shops and restaurants. He has been a kitchen manager at Baked in Shelburne Falls, and also been part of the crew at Mocha Maya’s, also in Shelburne Falls, Beijing House in Greenfield and the Deerfield Inn.
His vision for Kelly’s is to bring back the basics, whether burgers for lunch and other blue plate specials, or biscuits and gravy, eggs benedict and corned beef hash for breakfast, as well as muffins and stews. He will source as much as possible from local purveyors.
“This will be traditional diner food, all made in house,” Herzig said. “An emphasis is on everything made from scratch, and a lot of care is put into it.
“It’s not going to be anything fancy, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be special,” Herzig added. “It’s no frills, but is executed really well.”
Kelly’s opened in fall 1993, replacing a similar breakfast and lunch place called Reddy’s, and has continued to serve the earliest risers, like police officers, Department of Public Works employees, firefighters, farmers and even pest extermination crews, to later arriving folks like academics and office workers, and finally retirees and some families. Since reopening after a few months of being closed at the onset of the pandemic, the menu has been exclusively breakfast, and Kelly’s closes at 11:30 a.m.
It’s always been known as a place for townies, less the college student crowd, which has ensured a fairly consistent business no matter the time of year.
Herzig wouldn’t disclose how much he paid for the business or what he anticipates the costs of renovations will be, only that it’s not inexpensive. “It’s a huge endeavor to undertake,” Herzig said.
He will replace one of the two griddles with a range and will have to do more back-of-house work that won’t be noticed by customers. There is also the new signs with a new name for the restaurant, though the artwork on the walls that captures the four New England seasons will likely remain.
“Overall it will look and feel the same,” Herzig said. “It will mostly be the place that those who have come to Kelly’s have come to know.”
The big change will be extending the hours to 2 p.m. again, though the business will be closed on Mondays.
O’Brien said while he spent three decades making Kelly’s, it was the community that has caused its success.
“They’re all part of the family,” O’Brien said as he looked out over the customers, some at the tables and others at the counter.
Over the weekend, when packed with people who wanted to offer well wishes to O’Brien, one table had three generations of a family, including a father he remembers serving as a child. Moving on, O’Brien said he will miss the town gossip and often being the first to know things.
While he could make a guest appearance in the future, O’Brien’s last day standing at the griddles will be Sunday, Dec. 18.
“I want to let Kai do it his way,” O’Brien said. “The community will support him. They’ve taken care of me very well.”
O’Brien’s silent partner through the years has been his wife, Karin, who has handled social media publicity and is pleased that Herzig is allowing current staff to stay on, including her daughter.
On Wednesday, Herzig was at the restaurant, as he had been over the weekend, again greeting some customers who he hopes to get to know better, letting them know the atmosphere and food quality will not change.
Shutesbury resident Bud Mahoney, who said he is an occasional customer. He praised Kelly’s as one of the few places that gets poached eggs right. “Consistently excellent” is how he terms the food and service there.
One of the regulars, Darrin Brown, who runs Amherst Welding, and whom O’Brien quipped he has known since he was 15, was at the counter and happy to know that lunch would soon be available again. Brown hopes the corned beef and cabbage will make a comeback, and he might resume twice-daily visits.
“It doesn’t matter what you get,” Brown said. “It’s always good.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.