Many of Kuhl's customers don't want to think about the fact that the restaurant, a fixture at 1038 O St. in downtown Lincoln since the late 1960s, appears to be on its way out.
JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, October 28, 2007 7:00 pm
Karen Prochnow isn’t sure what she’ll do for lunch now.
Each work day, Monday through Friday, the Department of Labor employee walks across the street and eats at Kuhl’s Restaurant.
She’s been doing it for 10 years, maybe longer, she said.
On Thursday, Prochnow sat along the east wall in the long, narrow dining room known for its paneled walls, 1950s-style light fixtures, table tops with local advertising and rotating dessert case.
She read the newspaper as she dined on the day’s special, Greek chicken.
“I’ll either try to find somewhere else, or make my own lunches,” she said. “I don’t want to think about it. It’s too far ahead.”
Many of Kuhl’s customers don’t want to think about the fact that the restaurant, a fixture at 1038 O St. in downtown Lincoln since the late 1960s, appears to be on its way out.
Leaving for sure are owners Pete and Stella Hametis, who have run the popular diner for the past 23 years.
Financial disputes with their landlord over the terms of their lease - with some of those disagreements ending up in county and district courts - sealed their fate.
The Hametis’ lease expires at the end of March, and building owner James Franssen has elected not to renew it.
“It’s been a long, hairy deal,” Franssen said. “It came down to differences of opinions.”
The latest dispute stems from damages from a December 2005 fire and who should pay for them, with both parties having filed suits against each other in county court.
“I don’t want to condemn them,” Franssen said. “They were good tenants for a number of years. There’s just a lot of stuff that happened between us.”
Instead of finding a new location for Kuhl’s, Pete and Stella, ages 60 and 52, respectively, have decided to retire.
“I’m not happy about it, but I don’t have much of a choice,” said Pete, his voice thick with the accent of his native Greece.
The Hametises hope to sell the restaurant before the March deadline, but if they don’t, they will auction off the diner’s equipment and furnishings.
“It’ll be different for them,” longtime customer Jim Edgar said. “When you do anything your whole life … it will be a change.”
The Hametises bought Kuhl’s in 1985 from Kurt Kuhl and his wife, Pearl, who opened the O Street restaurant 18 years earlier.
The Hametises came to Lincoln from Carroll, Iowa, where they worked at a Bonanza restaurant. Pete was looking for his own business when he learned Kuhl’s was for sale.
The couple kept the name because of the restaurant’s stellar reputation for food and service, which, according to customers, still exists today.
They also retained the restaurant’s look. Those who ate at Kuhl’s in the 1970s will be hard-pressed to note any changes in the decor and ambiance.
The restaurant specializes in homestyle cooking and bottomless cups of coffee.
Breakfast, including the Kuhl’s Special - half a pound of chopped steak, two eggs, hash browns and toast - is available all day long.
Stella, who affectionately calls customers “sweetie,” is either at the front counter or refilling coffee cups. Pete and youngest son Jim work in the kitchen.
The servers often call regulars by name and are good at remembering food and beverage orders.
“I’ve never had to tell a waitress what I want to drink,” said Fred Briggs Sr., a real estate appraiser who routinely sits at the back table with a group of regulars known as “the backseat gang.”
“What we didn’t know was the Hametis family called us ‘skid row,’” Briggs said, laughing.
He then told a story about Stella bringing him Greek pudding when he was hospitalized after a heart attack.
It was typical of her, he said.
“Our customers are so much more than just ‘customers,’” said George Hametis, the couple’s eldest son. “They are and will continue to be our family.”
Their customers say they feel the same way about the Hametises. That’s why they will miss them.
“They are concerned about you and not just for your business,” Prochnow said.
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.