Iconic Elburn restaurant Kountry Kettle to close

ELBURN – The Kountry Kettle in Elburn had no trouble traveling back in time last summer to the 1950s and turning into Nanny’s Bakery for the HBO series “Lovecraft Country.”

Unfortunately those good old days are no more.

The Kountry Kettle is closing its kitchen for good Feb. 23.

“The owner (Tim Reed) has been trying to sell the building for a long time, so we knew that once he sold it we would close,” said Marlene Hernandez, who has managed the Kountry Kettle since 2004. “I don’t know what is going to happen to this place, but I know none of us will be here anymore.”

Reed, who bought the restaurant in 2002, has been unable to be reached for comment.

Hernandez said the closure would leave her staff of a half dozen unemployed.

“I know we have to adjust to whatever change there is, but I’ve been doing this for a long time now,” she said. “The customers were surprised. They were shocked to hear we were closing. They’re sad and they’re mad and many of them have been coming here so long and have their usual spots and now they’ll need to find somewhere else to go.”

Whatever establishment has occupied 115 N. Main St. has been a popular place for Elburn residents and out-of-towners for 100 years.

Ownership of the Kountry Kettle had changed hands several times since it was given the Kountry Kettle and Katering name in 1981 by owners, Dennis and Angie Lexa. Before that, it was known as Country Kitchen under Mary and Glenn Bateman from the early 1970s until they sold it to the Lexa family. Before that, it was Fisher’s Café, named after owners Roy and Elsie Fisher in 1948. Its history actually dates to the 1920s, when it was the home of the Elburn Bakery.

Reed, the latest owner, bought it from Mary Whitney, one of the Lexa family’s 15 kids, who ran it from 1995 through 2002.

Tricia Mills hasn’t dined in the restaurant much recently, but she’ll always remember it since it was her first job when she was a student at Kaneland High School. Mills began washing dishes there 40 years ago when it was known as Country Kitchen in 1979.

“It’s kind of an iconic Elburn location that I’m sure will be missed,” she said. “I wonder where the farmers are going to go for breakfast?”

Joe Gallagher prefers the good old days in Elburn and is saddened by the news.

“Elburn, or what it was, is gone,” he said. “But I have the great memories of what it was four decades ago. I guess change is good in some people’s mind, but if time travel were possible, I’d go back 50 years and live out my days there. Much better times and joyful.”

Gallagher and millions of others will be able to sort of travel back in time to see the Kountry Kettle as it will be most remembered, a mom-and-pop diner in a small town in the 1950s, on HBO later this year.

As for what will happen to the property in present day 2019, that’s unknown at this time.