A Central Kentucky dining landmark — the last in the nation — is celebrating a milestone

There’s some debate about exactly which day in July 1961 the Jerry’s Restaurant in Paris, Kentucky opened. Some people think it was the 11th or the 13th but most people defer to 96-year-old Maxine Pulliam, the widow of the man who owned and operated it whose memory is still notoriously sharp, and she says it was the 17th.

Jerry’s — the last remaining open location in the country of a franchise that was once common in the south and Midwest — is sidestepping the issue by celebrating its 60th anniversary for a few weeks this month, offering specials on original popular Jerry’s menu items (J-Boy and Champ plates, hot fudge cake), chances at gift cards, and local bands and classic car cruises to entertain customers.

But the whole thing has more the feel of an extended family reunion. And it should.

At lunch there’s a nice buzz as the servers and managers chat with customers like longtime friends — which many are. Barry Sargent, a Paris native, has worked there for 40 years, starting as a teen as a bus boy, cleaning up after some kids who now bring kids of their own into Jerry’s. The two assistant mangers, Darrell Puckett and Barbie Kennedy, each have about 30 years at Jerry’s. Several servers and cooks have been there 10 to 20 years. It’s that kind of place.

Like the employees, the customers are loyal. Many people come in once or even twice a day — the servers often know what they’ll order to drink before they sit down. One couple had their first date at Jerry’s years ago and now come every year for their anniversary.

And the staff has always been family, too. While Maxine never worked much at Jerry’s, her mother-in-law came down on Sundays to help out. Shea Pulliam Ernest loved it from the beginning, spending as much time there as her dad, A.B., would let her. “I just followed daddy around, people said I was attached to his side” working until she went off to college (but never serving the rowdies out on the curb — A.B., wouldn’t allow that.) Although it’s been ages since she worked the floor, Ernest still bakes cakes and pies served there. Another sister, Shanda — born the year Jerry’s opened — does all the media work for the business, including the Facebook presence, which recently featured a photo of four generations of a family that has been eating there since it opened enjoying a birthday dinner.

The Pulliams had not been in the restaurant business before opening their Jerry’s dining spot. A.B. was a tobacco buyer, spending three to four months a year farther south looking at crops. While the kids were young the whole family went with him (“mama says she moved 52 times,”) but as the kids got to school age he thought it was time to set down roots. A native of Cynthiana, he had traveled to and through Paris many times as a young man and thought it was a good place to live and start a business. Wearing a white shirt and tie every day to work, A.B. Pulliam was a constant presence at the restaurant. “He loved kids,” Ernest said, and would often pluck a fussy baby or toddler from a table and walk around the restaurant with the child in his arms so the parents could enjoy some peace while they ate.

Sargent says A.B. and his son Brian (who died in 2019) set the standards that have made the restaurant endure when so many others have come and gone: good food and good service in a clean place at reasonable prices. It’s been a long time since this restaurant was a franchise, which means they have total control over the menu. They keep many of the Jerry’s original menu items but now have 15 sides — including stewed tomatoes, broccoli casserole, baked apples — for customers to choose from as opposed to the original three or four. They’ve introduced other innovations including online ordering. Curbside service had been under consideration before the pandemic last year but became a fixture quickly. “We didn’t lose a full day,” to COVID, Sargent said. When the order came down to close restaurants to inside dining Jerry’s locked the doors at 2 p.m. while Sargent figured out the logistics — paper products, ordering, etc. — of curbside service so they could reopen the next morning.

“The community supported us through one of the worst things a small business could go through,” Ernest said, and Jerry’s survived to reach this milestone.

Jerry’s Restaurant

Where: 4129 Lexington Rd., Paris

Hours: 9 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Sun.-Thursday; 9 a.m.-9p.m. Fri.-Sat.

More information: (859) 987-3465; jerrysofparis.com

This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 10:25 AM.