Iconic Greeley restaurant Kenny’s Steakhouse to shut its doors

GREELEY — Another icon of Greeley history will come to a close this month. Kenny’s Steakhouse, named for the man who put Greeley on the map as a meat-and-potatoes town, will close on Oct. 12.

Named for Ken Monfort, whose legacy of cattle feeding continues today at the JBS USA packing plant, and whose son, Dick Monfort co-owns Kenny’s, the Steakhouse will close Oct. 12 after almost 30 years at the corner of 35th Avenue and 10th Street.

“All day long, I’ve been getting blown up with calls, emails and texts, ‘Where am I going to get my Charlies Chips? and all these different” favorites people loved, co-owner Matt Larson said on Monday, hours after he made the announcement on his Facebook page.

This will be the second historic Greeley restaurant to close in the last six weeks. Fat Albert’s closed Aug. 31 after a 42-year run in central Greeley.

Kenny’s has been for sale for a while, but no one has come forward to buy it. Co-owner Matt Larson said in the absence of a buyer, he opted to close the doors. He said he isn’t sure exactly if they will continue to try to sell it, or lease it out. For him, though, it’s time to scale down.

“Kenny’s has lived its life, just shy of 30 years, and it’s very bittersweet,” Larson said. “I’m looking forward to slowing down and enjoying life. I’m also sad because this has been my home for 30 years and giving it everything I had. I’m proud of all its successes. We’ve done a lot of catering, and a lot of special parties and all the special memories. Customers are like family and the employees are like family. It is the definition of a true family business.”

The business originally was called the Stampede Steak Ranch — a tribute to the annual Greeley Independence Stampede rodeo — when Larson and Rob Haimson opened it in 1995 in a building that had housed a Golden Corral restaurant.

“For the first six years, we were a more casual place, like the Golden Corral,” Larson said in a previous interview with BizWest, “but we did a big remodel in 2001. Ken Monfort passed away in February of that year as we were remodeling, so when we opened, we decided to call it Kenny’s Steak House in honor of him.”

Larson had worked for Haimson as a manager at the former Potato Brumbaugh’s, a legendary Greeley restaurant named for a character in James Michener’s Colorado-based novel “Centennial.” Haimson sold his share of the Stampede Steak Ranch to Dick Monfort in 1996. Potato Brumbaugh’s closed in 2006, putting to rest the unique characters of Michener’s novel. That restaurant has since been remodeled as Pellegrini Cucina Italiana since 2012.

Larson said the pandemic was difficult, but they managed to stay open. But today’s economy is hitting people harder, and higher-end restaurants have a tougher time when people’s pocketbooks are pinched.

The restaurant is still filling seats, Larson said. But the economy isn’t only taking a chunk out of people’s discretionary money.

“The restaurant business is hard, and particularly a higher-end menu like ours is a little more daunting. We’re selling steaks and seafood, but the cost of food and supplies has gone up, and there’s insurance, utilities,” Larson said. “You have to sell a lot of steaks.”

Larson opened the G.O.A.T. Sports Bar in Centerplace in 2021 with his son, which took a little more of his time, though another of his sons manages it.

“It’s a very busy restaurant and we have a lot of staff. I’m there every day, but doesn’t take a lot of my time,” Larson said.  He said he will continue to work, but at 61, he welcomes a break.

“I’m looking forward to slowing down, and spending time with my wife,” Larson said. “All good things come to an end, and it’s been a good run. Right now, I just want to go out strong and feed a lot of people one more meal or two and take good care of them.”— BizWest staff writer Dallas Heltzell contributed to this report.

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