By Mark Squibb | May 6, 2021
If you’re dying for a feed of Keith’s, you hopefully won’t have to wait much longer.
Owner-Operator Mallory Ward says they are scheduled to reopen the doors of the Goulds institution in mid-August, sooner if possible.
The eatery closed back in January following an overnight kitchen fire, but in addition to the repairs, Ward said the building is being refitted to better serve its customers.
Perhaps the biggest change will be the addition of a second kitchen.
“Our biggest challenge in the last couple of years has been trying to meet the demand of our customers,” said Ward. “We’ve been closing earlier, we’ve been selling out on a daily basis, and we felt that we could provide a better service to our customers. So, the biggest goal of this extension is a brand-new prep kitchen. So, this kitchen is solely used for prep purposes. This is going to allow us to be open later, and increase our hours, and keep up with the demand, and give our customers what they love… We’re going to have the capacity to take on catering, weddings, special events, corporate functions. This kitchen is opening a lot of doors for us to expand into other avenues as well.”
Those who have made Keith’s Diner a staple in their lives will be glad to hear that, amongst the changes, there are no plans to change the menu or the recipes that make the joint a regional staple.
“These are the traditional, family recipes that we’ve been using literally since the 60’s,” said Ward. “The same recipes have been used in the kitchen since my grandparents, Betty and Reg Ward, opened the doors in 1963, and they’re the exact same recipes that we’re going to be using when we reopen this summer.”
Those recipes have been passed down through three generations of Wards, from Betty and Reg to Keith and now to Mallory, which means that the Ward family has been feeding the Goulds for as many generations.
“Residents from the Goulds and the surrounding communities grew up eating here, and that’s something we’re really proud of,” said Ward. “We’ve served generations of families, because we ourselves are in our third generation. And they’ve seen the hard work that our family and staff have put in over the years, and I know they appreciate that too.”
That community closeness has been evident in recent months,
“We had customers reach out and offer to volunteer and assist in any way shape or form since the day we announced the fire,” said Ward. “I can’t even explain how good that made us feel.”
She said the community support has been humbling and overwhelming.
“I never anticipated the amount of support, and how much people would miss us,” said Ward. “You don’t realize how involved we have been in people’s lives. We’ve got customers who eat here regularly. We didn’t anticipate that people would be feeling the loss without us … A big day for us, and a big day for many people in this industry, is of course Good Friday. For us, obviously we were down and out this year. But we had people say, “I’m not going anywhere else this year. I’m not ordering fish and chips anywhere else. I’m going to wait until next year. Those types of things really, really pull at our heartstrings. Because that’s the loyalty we have from our customers, and that’s incredible.”
In addition to extra kitchen space, Ward said a new take-out entrance will help ease congestion.
“What we’ve done to alleviate some of the congestion on the lot is we’ve built a separate take-out entrance,” she said. “So, now we have two separate entrances for our dine-in and take-out customers, which is going to help us tremendously improve our takeout and delivery services, along with our dine-in service, because it keeps those areas separate, which is something that we felt is important.
“We just really wanted to bring Keith’s Diner to where it should be. It’s more than just a makeover. Everything makes more sense, we’re more accessible, we’re better equipped to handle orders and to serve our customers. So, we’re really excited about what’s going on and show everybody what we’re up too.”
