From Farmers Market to Brick and Mortar: Kelly’s Kitchen

Kelly Gregory started Kelly’s Kitchen in 2020 by selling salsa, kimchi, hummus, and cupcakes at the Dolores Farmers Market. In December 2022, she opened a brick and mortar restaurant on Central Ave. in Dolores, bringing a brand new breakfast, lunch, and coffee shop to the town. You’re watching the Local News Network brought to you by Blondie’s Trophy Room and TruWest Auto. I’m Connor Shreve.

So I started the business in June of 2020 at the Dolores Farmers Market just selling some packaged products and a handful of items that I felt people would be interested in and that people had given me feedback that they really liked.

Kelly went on to build a food truck serving tacos and other food at events around Montezuma County. She also started serving dinner at the Dolores River Brewery on Wednesday and Thursday nights. But with lots of prep and having to move heavy food around all the time, she soon began to feel like having her own kitchen would be worthwhile.

Having a homebase would be a little bit more sustainable for the business, and so I started pursuing that in the winter of 2022, looking at spaces around Dolores where I might be able to build a commercial kitchen, which then allowed me to pursue a dream that I had had for years, probably 30 years, of having a coffee shop.

Kelly’s Kitchen opened its doors on December 15th, 2022 serving breakfast and lunch in its newly renovated space.

These were some of our very first products that we sold at the Farmers Market in June of 2020, our salsa fresca, fresh salsa, kimchi, organic hummus, and then the carrot cake cupcakes. So they have stood the test of time, and now have a permanent home instead of a cooler.

This summer, Kelly is expanding to open a patio space in the empty lot adjacent to the cafe. She hopes to be open on Sundays for brunch, and is in the process of acquiring a liquor license.

The first thing that I’m going to do is build an outdoor patio because it’s so beautiful in the summer in Dolores that you don’t want to be inside. So I’m going to, at this point in time, have about eight tables out there, I think, and some shade structure and perimeter and a backdrop and have a lot of plants, and then make it a nice inviting space. I’m not planning to extend my hours too much past our 7:00 to 2:00 right now, but I would like to expand our days so that we can serve brunch on Sunday. That’s a thing that people are very interested in. I’ve started the application for a liquor license so that people can have proper Sunday brunch and have maybe a mimosa with their eggs Benedict or what other creations that I have. There may or may not be a crab cake Benedict in our future.

You can find Kelly’s Kitchen on Central Avenue in Dolores right next to Kokopelli Bikes for breakfast and lunch, or at the Dolores River Brewery for dinner on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Plus, you can still buy Kelly’s cupcakes and salsa at retailers around Montezuma County. Learn more about this story and others at montezumalocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I’m Connor Shreve.