Kate’s Kitchen has been serving up family food for 10 years
Kate’s Kitchen, a mom-and-pop restaurant in Logan, celebrated its 10-year anniversary on Oct. 8.
“We come here for the good food and friendly people,” said Molly Barrington, a Logan resident who has been a regular at Kate’s Kitchen since she and her husband moved to town, six years ago.
“We know the owner and most of the waiters and waitresses because we come here so much,” she said. “If you leave here and you’re hungry, it’s your own fault.”
Kate’s features home-style food and atmosphere, said Don Searles, the restaurant’s owner.
“It’s just traditional home-cooked recipes – the same type of thing people would make at home if they had six hours to prepare dinner,” he said. “We designed our menu for people who are on the go but still want to have a sit-down meal.”
Searles said he designs the recipes himself. Along with his own seasonings and barbecue sauce.
The Searles family moved to Cache Valley from Southern California because they wanted to leave the crowds of Los Angeles. They had visited the area a few times and fell in love with it, Searles said.
“I’ve been in the restaurant business pretty much all my life, so that’s what I was comfortable with,” he said. “I was just sitting down one day at my computer thinking Cache Valley definitely needed a meat-and-potatoes type of place.”
The Searles family bought the restaurant and a home across the parking lot and set up kitchen, doing everything themselves at first.
“We first opened on a Thursday, and we served about 12 to 15 people,” he said.
The next day, they served 24, and on Saturday, they served about 60 people.
“We were running around and had to call some friends to come help,” he said. “People loved us. It was just a good, home-cooked meal.”
One thing children like about Kate’s Kitchen is that the servers are always changing from one goofy hat to the next as they wait tables.
“When we first opened, I waited tables, and I wore different hats to entertain the kids,” Searles said. “Customers started bringing us old hats, and when they would go on vacation, they would bring us back hats from where they went. Then they would get to sign the hat book.”
The restaurant has a lot of hats. They are especially popular at Halloween when people come in and borrow a cowboy hat or a pirate hat.
“The life expectancy of a hat is not long here, though,” Searles said. “They get barbecue sauce on them or a kid wants to wear one and gets ice cream on it.”
He said the restaurant has more than 100 hats. To keep the family atmosphere, the employees don’t wear uniforms, and there are no booths, he said.
“We want people to feel like they’re family when they come here,” Searles said. “We really try to make our employees family so they can pass that on as they serve.
“In the last 10 years, we’ve probably had 100 employees, and at Christmas time we get 100 Christmas cards,” he said.
Some employees really feel like family. That’s because each of the six Searles children have worked at the restaurant with their parents.
“It’s given my family an opportunity to work in a family business,” Searles said.
Kate, for whom the restaurant is named, is now 10 and is the last child at home. She was just an infant when the business opened.
Food at Kate’s Kitchen comes in large portions, with free drinks and all-you -can-eat muffins, rolls, salad, vegetables and mashed potatoes or rice all made fresh at the restaurant.
“You can come down and eat a lot of food,” Searles said. “But it’s not a buffet; it’s good food.”
Barrington said, “The potatoes are phenomenal.”
Her husband Dave said, “We dream about the potatoes. The price is excellent, and there is tons of food to bring back.”
The roast beef and ribs are slow-cooked overnight, and the ribs are twice-cooked so they’re tender, Searles said.
The restaurant has become increasingly popular with time, and a back dining room was added in 1997.
“It’s fun and it’s different,” Searles said. “It’s not like going to any other restaurant. I am pleasantly surprised at how well we’ve been received. We’ll grow with Cache Valley as our family grows. I think it’s neat that it’s the only Kate’s Kitchen in the world. For Utah State students, it’s a little bit of home.”
In addition to the seven entrées available every evening, there is Prime Night about once a month where prime rib is the dinner of the day.
“We like to come on prime rib night,” Molly said. “Usually, we invite friends and family, and it’s just a party. You have to get your reservations a week in advance or you usually can’t get in for prime rib.”
Searles said he has clientele from Salt Lake, Brigham City, Preston, Jackson and Provo, many of whom come for the prime rib.
“It’s amazing how many people drive here from out of town. They think it’s fun we’ve got that small-town feel,” he said. “I love all the wonderful people that we’ve met.”
Kate’s Kitchen is located at 71 E. 1200 South. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m. The price is $10.95 for adults and $.50 for each birthday for kids aged 2 to 12. Catering and take out are also available.
More information is available at kateskitchen.net
“We leave here very satisfied,” Molly said. “The food is always awesome, and we get a dessert. When one of us doesn’t feel good, we take it home and eat it there.”
-kcartwright@cc.usu.edu