KINGSLEY — Every new spot needs a name, except when it already comes with an old one.
When Brian McAllister, Laurie Bouwman and son Max McAllister decided to reopen a bar and restaurant in downtown Kingsley, what to call the 211 E. Main St. business didn’t take long. The couple, which has owned and operated the Hofbrau in Interlochen since May 1997, decided to side with the community.
Known as the Kingsley Inn — even when it was renamed the Judson Market and Restaurant — Brian McAllister decided to embrace the past with the future endeavor. McAllister bought the liquor license on Jan. 18 and is working toward opening the Kingsley Inn for Super Bowl Sunday Feb. 12 or the following week with a very familiar name.
“No reason not to be,” Brian McAllister said. “You can call it whatever you want, but it’ll be the KI for as long as you like. Two decades at least before people forget its called something else.
“We’re kind of leaning into the KI. We like that.”
“I love it,” added Max McAllister, who will run the new, old Kingsley Inn for his parents. “It’s a great name. It’s been around and it’s nice to get back into that. A nice, friendly burger and a beer kind of place.”
The approach the McAllisters are taking with the name on the sign outside is the same approach with the inside.
“There’s no reason to make it complicated,” Max McAllister said.
“We want to celebrate and be a part of the community and not just make money on it,” Brian McAllister added. “We want to be a part of what’s going on, embrace it and make it even better.
“It’s the same thing we did in Interlochen.”
The McAllisters are taking a similar approach to the food at the new Kingsley Inn. In fact the menu may have a similar look to patrons of the Hofbrau Steak House & American Grille at 2784 M-137. It won’t be identical though.
The Kingsley Inn plans to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Menu specials will be a nod to the different seasons on the calendar, like Irish food in March or turkey specials in November.
“We’re going to lift the Hofbrau up and drop it on over,” said Brian McAllister, noting that a batch of French onion soup is a six hour process. “It’s 25-30 items from scratch. That’s a lot to take on.”
“It’s hard to beat good, old-fashioned from scratch home cooking,” Max McAllister added. “It should be right from the gut. If it ain’t broke …”
Terry Beia, the managing member of Southtown Property Management, LLC, is confident the new Kingsley Inn will be a success. Southtown currently owns 12 buildings, “which represents roughly 50% of the commercial property in downtown Kingsley,” Beia said in an email.
“ … we recently signed a long-term lease/option to purchase the former Judson’s Market with the McAllisters (Hofbrau owners),” Beia said in an email. “The family brings 25 years of experience running a successful family friendly restaurant/bar in Interlochen.
“The McAllisters will be a very welcomed addition to the Kingsley business community.”
The McAllisters are ready to “be a part of the community” as well, Brian McAllister said. He added that’s the reason there is a five-year lease with an option to buy at the end of the process.
“We want to buy the place,” Brian McAllister said. “We wouldn’t do this if there wasn’t a purchase agreement in place. So there’s a 5-year lease and we’ll cash out at the end. If you can’t own the dirt, there’s no reason to work your (butt) off.”
There are already plans to add touches of the surrounding area to the Kingsley Inn to reflect its ties to the community, the school and the association with the Adams Fly, which was developed in Mayfield and celebrated with a festival in Kingsley.
Brian McAllister said the Kingsley Inn crew is hustling to get open for Super Bowl weekend, which is Feb. 12. If not then, he said it will be open by the following week.
Max McAllister said the Kingsley Inn will eventually have a staff of about 25 to 35 people, a handful of which will come from the Hofbrau. Brian McAllister said Aaron Baker, who started as a chef at the Kingsley location under previous management, has been working for a couple of months in Interlochen before returning.
The McAllisters will also build things up in Kingsley, similar to when they took over in Interlochen.
The elder McAllister said the Kingsley Inn already has a catering job in March when the Grand Traverse County Commission meets in Kingsley. Brian McAllister, the newly-elected commissioner in District 1, will essentially be catering for himself, he joked.
The Hofbrau is known for having a large number of beer taps. The Interlochen location had 52 beer taps in 2010 before converting half of of those to craft cocktails in February 2020.
“We’re the largest cocktail bar on draft that I can find,” Brian McAllister said.
The Kingsley Inn has just eight beer taps behind the bar, a stark contrast to the other location. Brian McAllister said the KI will have cold beer ready for customers when it opens and let the people dictate the direction.
“We’ll lean into eight draft beers and figure it out from there,” he said. “We’ll see what the people want and need.”
Max McAllister said the Kingsley Inn is already sat down with The Workshop Brewing Co. founder and owner Pete Kirkwood about collaborating when The Kingsley Local Brewing Co. opens a short distance away. There is also plans for a cocktail collaboration with Sierra LaRose of Bear Earth Herbals in Kingsley. LaRose’s husband, Kevin, plays in StoneFolk, which has played live music at the Hofbrau.
While there will be beer on tap, the emphasis of the Kingsley Inn will be to give people an option for dining without having to go back into Traverse City.
“You need a place to eat and it’s nice not to have to go into Traverse City,” Max McAllister said. “Not that you can’t once in a while …”
“If you give some people a reason not to have to go back into Traverse City, they’ll love you forever,” his father added.
Brian McAllister said he’s heard from a lot of people who knew he was re-opening the business in Kingsley. That hasn’t waned with the opening approaching. It’s just as true for the operators.
“We’re excited to get started,” Brian McAllister said. “We really are.”
“It’ll be fun,” added the 25-year-old Max McAllister, who said he’s been working in restaurants “since I could.”