PITTSBURG, Kan. — This week, the owners of Harry’s Cafe had to make a painful decision. After struggling to keep prices low and the doors open, the iconic Pittsburg restaurant has closed.
For 87 years, the old-style diner has been serving home-cooked comfort meals to generations of familiar faces, but Wednesday, Jan. 15, was the last day that regulars could enjoy a hot cup of coffee, a warm cinnamon roll or a slice of homemade pie.
Harry’s Cafe employees were the first to say that while the food was exceptional, what made Harry’s special was the people.
“It wasn't just a restaurant, it was a full family,” Manager Killashandra Nichols said.
Although Nichols only assumed the manager’s role in 2023, she quickly became acquainted with the people who made Harry’s a part of their daily or weekly routine. One of her fondest memories was when her regulars showed her enormous support when her mother died last August.
“They really let me know I had a family outside of my own.” she said.
Nichols pointed out that Harry’s was always a place people felt welcome and comfortable. Throughout the years, Harry’s had been home to many social gatherings.
Jim Bishop, owner of Jim Bishop Realty, recalled how he and a group of several community members would meet every morning Monday through Friday to drink coffee, along with the occasional sugar cookie, and chat about national and world politics as well as happenings in Pittsburg.
“You would almost feel guilty if you missed a day,” he said.
Harry’s was a central and convenient location for the group members, allowing them to walk there to and from work from places like The Morning Sun and Bowlus School Supply.
The group would play a number guessing game to see who would buy their coffee that day. They continued this tradition throughout the 1980s and 1990s, until several people moved away, which ultimately split up the group.
In addition to his weekday routine, Bishop and his wife would visit Harry’s for coffee and cinnamon rolls after taking their children to Sunday School.
“I have so many fond memories of Harry’s Cafe,” he said. “And it’s an icon for downtown Pittsburg. I’m sorry to see its closing.”
Bishop said he hopes someone will continue the diner’s legacy.
When Brian Jones was just starting out at his family’s realty business, Jones Realty, he was part of a separate group of men who would also meet at Harry’s every weekday. He said he remembers seeing Bishop and his group at the next table over.
“At 10 o'clock, that place was pretty crowded with guys,” Jones said. “It was the older guys coming in to talk about what was going on and any opinions that they had on whether it was a sales tax, whether it was a new school that they were trying to build. But whatever the discussion going on and was, it was fun sitting in and listening to these guys talk about was happening and what was good for Pittsburg.”
Jones said back in the 1960s, his brother painted the Harry’s sign that still hangs on the back side of the building, and they repainted it over the years.
“Harry's was the place to go to have a nice meal or to discuss stuff that was going on in business in the city of Pittsburg, Kansas,”
Jones said he visited Harry’s just last week, and the food was still good and he had no complaints.
Nichols said as hard as they tried, recent increases in grocery prices caused a constant struggle for the small business, because they wanted to keep their prices lower for their customers. She compared their predicament to when Jim’s Steak and Chophouse’s owner expressed his concern with keeping up with prices and diminishing clientele.
Andrew Faucett, owner of East Side Cafe in Girard and a former employee of Harry’s, said that locally-owned restaurants are vital to communities.
“Small-town communities thrive because of mom-and-pop restaurants and store fronts, and Harry’s is no exception,” Faucett said. “Harry’s has always been home to me. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the love and friendship of everyone that I had the privilege of meeting. Our customers at Harry’s were so thoughtful, so caring and wanted all of us to succeed. I am fortunate today to have that same customer base and hometown feel at Eastside.”
Faucett worked at Harry’s Cafe from 2009 to 2016, and he said he worked alongside many hard-working men and women.
“It is truly sad to see it close,” he said. “But I have high hopes that it isn’t for long.”
According to Faucett, Harry’s Cafe was first opened in 1934 by the original owner, Harry Clements. In later years, the Chancey family purchased the restaurant, which they owned and managed until they sold it to Henry and Betty Farris in 1991. It is also the first restaurant in Kansas to have central air conditioning.
Nichols said many customers already have reached out to her saying this was not the end of Harry’s Cafe and that they would figure out a way to resurrect it.
“We are extremely grateful for the community,” she said. “Harry’s Cafe was a place where we all knew each other, and we all loved each other.”
It is her highest hope, she said, that someone buys it and continues the diner as Harry’s Cafe. She and the other employees, who have become family, all agreed they just wanted to see a revival of the diner.
“We would love it,” she said. “Most don’t even care if we come back to work there or not. We cared about the place, we cared about the history, we cared about trying to keep old Pittsburg alive while new Pittsburg is growing up.”
Nichols said she has heard so many stories from people who had moved away and came back for Pittsburg State University events, or people who had worked at Harry’s in the past. She said many people told her they could always count on Harry’s having good food.
“It’s a place that everyone is going to remember,” she said.
This reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/Localnews
