Addisons

Jeff Green | May 14, 2009

Chris and Melissa Evans have been living and working in the restaurant business in Prince Edward County for several years, and this winter they took advantage of the slow winter season to take a southern vacation to the Dominican Republic in late January.

When they got back, Melissa contacted a realtor, looking for some land in Addington Highlands. Instead of the vacation property she was looking for, Melissa found a restaurant that contained a three-bedroom apartment and was available at a pretty good price.

So, on the Family Day holiday, Melissa and Chris made their first offer on the property, and in early April they jumped into a new venture, as owner-operators of their own restaurant.

The restaurant, now named Addison's after Chris and Melissa's 13-year-old son, has been open under different names and management over the past few years, most recently as Kellar's Kountry Kitchen.

When people come into the restaurant, they see a spotlessly clean, freshly painted and decorated room, with a colourful aquarium in the left front corner of the building.

They are also greeted by Melissa Evans, who says “It is very important to us that people have a good experience when they come to eat in our restaurant. We need to give them good food and friendly service. That's all there is to it”.

That's one of the reasons that Chris and Melissa wanted to get the restaurant open quickly after they purchased the business.

“We certainly did not want to open our doors for the first time on the May 24th weekend,” said Chris.

Melissa and Chris are bringing a pretty straightforward strategy towards their first family-owned business. Chris is the main cook, and Melissa runs the service end of the business. They will be hiring staff for the busy summer season, but the couple intend to be front and centre as they greet their new neighbours and new customers who have been coming in since they opened the restaurant a couple of weeks ago.

“We've had a great response so far,” said Chris. The menu that is on offer at Addison's can be described as a new style family restaurant menu, but Chris said that as time goes on, “we will continually listen to our customers as we develop our menu over the next few months.”

While Addison's menu includes many of the classic mainstays of family fare, there is a modern edge to the cuisine. For instance, the Mother’s Day specials included Silk Chocolate Truffle and Vanilla Pannacotta with multi-berry compote on the dessert menu.

Thus far, pasta Wednesdays and steak Fridays have proven to be popular and in response to customers’ requests, Addison's will be seeking a liquor license.

“People have been saying they would like the option of a glass of wine with their meal so we will be getting a license over the next few months.”

Addison's is located at 11893 Hwy 41, just south of Northbrook on the east side, and is open six days a week, from 8 am until 8 pm. They are closed on Tuesdays.

“It's the only way we can get a day off,” said Chris, “and we do need a day off each week”.

Call 613-336-8265; email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.