It took a year of planning before Harry’s After Dark started at the beginning of August. The plans were even interrupted when the restaurant was closed from January 15 to March 8. But, manager Killashandra Nichols called the temporary closure a “blessing in disguise.”
“What came from that closing was so much better than the road that we were on,” she said. “We got shown yet again another reason why the community -and why I always call this a community cafe- was just right behind us. When we closed, we had the community outreaching, going, okay how are we going to get Harry’s back open?”
The community has continued to show its support. According to Nichols, business for Harry’s After Dark is especially good from 12 a.m. to 3 a.m. The two hours before are less busy and good for customers who want a quieter late-night meal.
Harry’s After Dark also created a few more jobs. Once the restaurant was open again, a whole new crew was hired for the night shift, including cooks, servers, dishwashers, security and food runners.
“We have the food runners because we actually have our menus in some of the bars and you can call over, place your order and my food runners will actually run the food to you at the bar,” Nichols said.
The partnership with the bars is just one of the different aspects Harry’s After Dark offers. In addition, the nightly specials are items that aren’t on the regular menu. The cooks have free reign to create what they want for the specials.
“Each one of our cooks that we are training for this, we really didn't bring them on because we wanted them to do things exactly the Harry’s Cafe way,” Nichols said. “We wanted them to come in and give them a chance to shine and give them a chance to really show us and the community what they can do and what their creative minds can come up with.”
Though the late-night hours have just started, Nichols already has ideas for how it can expand and evolve. For example, she wants to open sooner on nights the local high school sports teams have games to give families another option.
“By the time (they’re) done, the only place you got is Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebee's, and they may not want that,” she said. “It's a nice option for the community to go to.”
Nichols also plans to rent the restaurant and its kitchen out to food trucks on certain weekends as the weather gets colder so they can enjoy the late-night hours. It’s a collaboration that will benefit everyone.
“It's going to give them a place where they can go, it's going to give us a weekend off and, more importantly, it’s going to get all of us connecting with each other and giving the town different things in here,” she said. “This doesn't have to just be Harry's. It doesn't just have to be one thing, and that's the greatest thing about it.”
Additional ideas for Harry’s After Dark include karaoke, live music performances and comedy nights. Whatever comes from it, for Nichols, it’s all about creating connections and getting the community involved with each other again.
“That is literally what this town needs,” she said. “That's what people need. We’re meant to be around each other, we're not meant to be alone. Covid took that away from us, and I love seeing that the town’s slowly taking that back.”
Updates from Harry’s Cafe can be found on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
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