Kelly’s Bar and Kitchen back in business thanks to former policeman Grant Harrison
A FORMER policeman has saved a favourite hills haunt from closure.
Mt Evelyn’s Grant Harrison said he was a regular at Kelly’s Bar and Kitchen in Olinda before its abrupt closure a few months ago when the former owners went into liquidation.
Now the former cop turned businessman has moved behind the bar to continue giving locals a Kelly’s experience.
“We’ve had magnificent support from all the locals, mainly from our Facebook followers,” Mr Harrison said.
He said the reopening this month after “weeks of complete and utter madness” was a huge success, despite a few “red tape issues”.
“We’ve been trading without an active phone line but we’re trying to sort it out and bookings can be made through Facebook in the meantime,” Mr Harrison said.
The same team is in charge of the Kelly’s kitchen and local legend Phill Deeh is still belting out Aussie classics. But Mr Harrison said the restaurant now boasted an entirely new dessert menu.
A locals loyalty card is in the works and a bus service will operate Thursday to Sunday from 8pm to 1am to help get patrons home.
Mr Harrison said while owning a restaurant was new to him, he was “very business savvy”.
“It’s not too different from other businesses I’ve owned — it’s a different industry but the mechanics of running a business are all the same,” he said. Mr Harrison said he had also inherited six years of noise complaints from the previous owners but was mindful of noise levels and didn’t want to annoy neighbours.
Source: Free Press Leader, Jordy Atkinson, 16th August 2015
Originally published as: Kelly’s Bar and Kitchen back in business thanks to former policeman Grant Harrison
