New restaurant bringing convenience to Kenilworth

KENILWORTH — Kenilworth's only restaurant and specialty grocery store is officially open for business.

Located at 9121 Highway 6 in Kenilworth, owners David Yeh and Carol Shen said they were inspired to open their new business, the Country Pantry, after speaking with residents and learning what they felt their town needed.

Originally from Bradford, the couple said they were surprised when they heard the closest grocery stores and restaurants for Kenilworth residents were in Mount Forest and Arthur and are hopeful the Country Pantry will fill that gap and "deliver some value into the community." 

"After these three, four weeks, we've been told that residents like us to be here and they think it's convenient," said Yeh. "We have freshly baked baguettes and stuff like that in store so people don't have to travel far if they don't need a full shopping trip."

Currently offering a small menu with soups, sandwiches and other lunch items, Yeh said they recently obtained their liquor license and intend to sell gelato in the summer. 

Outside of their menu, Country Pantry sells a variety of basic grocery items like bread and milk in addition to specialty and local products like Yeh's garlic chili oil sauce, SoSecret.

"It's very much like a regular convenience store," said Yeh. "We sell a lot of Ontario-made or Canadian-made brands because I like to support local."

While still in their soft opening period, Yeh said business is booming. Last week, the couple introduced chicken wings to the menu; the next day, they sold out. 

"We didn't know how much to prepare so we only prepared a little bit," said Yeh. "The whole day, people were coming for chicken wings and bought everything we had ... we were very surprised." 

Public reception has also been "very positive" and "very different" from what they're used to in the GTA said Yeh. Last week, they even met their first Mennonite family.

"They welcome you, they support you, they come into the store talking to you. You don't get that personal touch in big cities," said Yeh. "We love the area. We love the people here ... they've been very supportive."

Citing low start-up costs, the people and the onslaught of new development planned for surrounding areas, Yeh said he encourages other small business owners to take a chance on Kenilworth and "give this beautiful township a try."

"People usually want you to go lower and lower (with prices) but no- in Kenilworth, people want you to succeed," said Yeh. "They want the convenience and we want to do our best to bring that value and convenience into Kenilworth."

Country Pantry is open Thursday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. More information about the Country Pantry is available here.

Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.