Saturday, June 21, 2008

No More Kerch's

Yesterday, I was driving back to Washington, D.C., and I planned to make a quick detour in Hagerstown, Md., to eat lunch at Kerch's Southern BBQ. I had been 4 or 5 years since I had last eaten at Kerch's, but I remembered the excellent barbecue chicken they served.

Well, my detour was all for naught. I arrived at the old site of Kerch's to see a two- or three-story office building. One of the locals was kind enough to tell me that the owner of Kerch's had decided a couple of years ago to close the business and sell the land to a developer. (She seemed almost as disappointed as I was.)

There was nothing else around but fast-food restaurant chains. Ugh. This is getting to be a real problem, especially once you leave the major cities — the absence of local mom-and-pop restaurants that serve good, no-nonsense food. (Sigh)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The closest taste to Kerch's is found in Rouzerville, PA on Rt. 16 East just outside of Waynesboro. A little shop similiar in size called Red Run Grill. Here's their website http://www.redrungrill.com.
I, too, was disappointed when Jim became a County Commissioner and closed Kerch's. I understand there's only so much time to both well but I really miss the food.
~Ruth at MaplewoodVA

Food Dude said...

Thanks for the info, Ruth. I will have to try out Red Run Grill the next time I am in the area.

Anonymous said...

Years later and I am still missing Kerch's chicken. I used to go there all the time during the summers as a kid. They also had the best milkshakes. I thought I heard once that they were relocating but I guess not.

-Joe in HagerstownMd