How Kel’s Got Its Name

As a young man, John Wendell Meredith Sr. worked long hours driving a
milk truck to support his growing family. One day, a new stop, Ken’s
Kitchen, a restaurant located on the corner of Preston Road and Forest
Lane, was added to his route. John pulled onto the blacktop parking lot at
about the same time as the noon hour rush.

Inside, the restaurant was filled with the rich smells of cooking and the
sounds of the lunch time crowd. John would later joke, “It looked, sounded,
and smelled like opportunity.”

Minutes later, he climbed back into his truck, looked at the glass door of
Ken’s Kitchen, and made a promise to himself. As he shifted his milk truck
into gear, he promised to buy Ken’s Kitchen before the year was out.




And he did.





On December 20, 1962, after some haggling and a handshake, John
walked out when Ken’s Kitchen with the key to the front door in his hand.

Now, he had his restaurant, but what he didn’t have was a name.

One look at his empty bank account told him that a brand new sign was out
of the question. Instead, he scraped together enough money to change one
letter, and one letter only. He changed the N to an L, and the rest, as they
say is history.









On January 1, 1963 Kel’s Kitchen opened for business.

John always claimed that “opportunities, are like eggs, they only come one
at a time.” Four decades later, we are proud to claim that his “opportunity”
has turned into what food critics from Texas Monthly, The Dallas Morning
News, D Magazine, and Chef’s Night Out have called the “crown jewel”
among Dallas’ restaurants for home-style cooking.

Our home-style recipes are made from scratch using farm fresh produce
selected every morning at Farmer’s Market. While country cooking may be
our hallmark, we aren’t shy to say that our rich, creamy salad dressings,
homemade banana pudding, yeast rolls and buttermilk biscuits that are
baked throughout the day, are pretty special, too.

Thank you,
The Meredith Family
5337 Forest Lane
Dallas, Tx 75244
972-458-7221

800 N. Coit Road
Richardson, Tx 75080
972-238-kels (5357)
Kel's Home Cooking.com
972-238-5357 Richardson
972-458-7221 Dallas
We offer home cooking for Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Frisco,
Allen and the Metroplex. Our Diner has been famous in Dallas
since 1963 for home cooked breakfasts, fried chicken,
hamburgers, catfish, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, onion rings
and market fresh vegetables.

Come check out our Daily Specials and "All You Can Eat"
Specials, once you come, you're family and you will want to
come back!