NOTE: This post comes from outside the blog's coverage area from Southwestern Pennsylvania. This will also be October's look at a Kmart visit done early as a thank you for 10,000 views to the blog.
Rather than closing the fancy restaurant inherited from its days as a Grants location as most have, one lone Kmart stores continues to serve a diner experience just outside of Belle Vernon, PA. I stopped by this location on my most recent return trip home from Tennessee and had dinner at the 'Route 201 Kmart Diner,' or as the signs say, the 'KCafe Family Restaurant.'
Rather than starting with the exterior as a normally would, I saved that for last. We instead start with why this particular location is so unique compared to other restaurants:
The menu was something that was just begging to be photographed:
A quick look at the rest of the store:
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| Good to see that this store has mannequins. |
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| The Appliance takeover of electronics. |
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| Old 90s price scanner sign. |
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| The restaurant must be doing rather well if they are looking for additional help. I can say for a fact that it has many regulars as I overheard conversations between an employee and multiple customers. |
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| Chef Bluelight |
Rating: 9 out of 10. Busy, unique and well-stocked describe this store from my experience. Even though Walmart is right down the road, this store had plenty of customer traffic. Not to mention the fact that there are plenty of regulars who come for the restaurant attached. (Which by the way, actually has really good prices for a diner.) The score is not a perfect 10 as the store could be a little cleaner.
In Danger of Closing?: Possible, but hard to tell.
That's cool that you got to experience the last full service Kmart Restaurant! It must do well if Kmart has let it survive this long. The Kmart in Mt. Dora, FL (a little NW of Orlando) was the 2nd to last Kmart to have a full service restaurant operating inside of it. That Kmart opened as a new build Kmart in 1988, and unfortunately it closed in 2013, taking the restaurant with it.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to leave this a surprise, but with the 10,000 views, I had to something special!
DeleteThe restaurant was great. The food was good and although only one waitress was working at the time, she did a fantastic job. I would stop here myself more often if I lived in the area.
I didn't realize that some new-built stores did a full on service restaurant, nor that any others existed.
This is great! I just saw in your flickr photostream that another store's restaurant has closed, so I sure hope this one gets to stay around for much longer. Glad you were able to experience it and get picture to share!
ReplyDelete*pictures, plural XD
DeleteThat store actually removed its restaurant a while back. It just never updated the area. I'm glad to have gone; I hope it will stay around.
DeleteHaha. :D
That is very awesome that you got to go to that store and experience the restaurant. I've been eyeing that store for a while hoping someone would post pictures of what the restaurant looked like inside.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI'm glad I visited myself. Also, I glad to have been able to share the experience. (and the pictures of course)
DeleteI am a former Belle Vernon kmart employee. That restaurant does very well. It is responsible for over 25% of the store's profits. The restaurant is a favorite for locals. Breakfast is what they are most famous for. On Sundays, there is usually a line out the door waiting for a table. Prices are great. You can get an entire meal for around $5. The menu design was created by a retired local art teacher. The items on the menu are nearly identical to what it originally was. Also, the restaurant gets almost no corporate support. The manager of the restaurant handles nearly every aspect of the restaurant. The store is in no danger of closing. It makes good money. Only way it closes is if the whole company does.
ReplyDeleteThat's great to hear your perspective on this. I know the prices were good (the food was too) because I stopped and and ate here myself! I'd stop here more often if I was closer. That's cool to hear about the local design. No wonder this store's restaurant is still open (since it is not corporate ran) when so many others have closed. If only Kmart would carry this concept on to other stores. And in my opinion, that manager deserves a raise.
DeleteSadly, Eddie doesn't use common sense when it comes to running Kmart/Sears, because even though the company is still around, this Kmart/restaurant are now no more, closing just a few months after your initial post:
Deletehttps://www.wtae.com/article/more-local-kmart-stores-closing/9988316
I'm aware that this location closed. A good portion of the stores I've posted have now closed.
Delete