The Kettle celebrates 40 years as a Manhattan Beach mainstay
The Kettle will celebrate its 40th year anniversary with 25 cent coffee and free muffins on Jan. 17. Photo by Chelsea Schreiber Many great family businesses started humbly. It would have been impossible to look at the first Walton’s Variety Store and see the seeds of a Wal-Mart, or the first McDonald Brothers hamburger joint and envision eateries spanning the globe and generating millions. The Kettle, which spawned a family of restaurants in the South Bay and beyond, turned 40 years old in December. Its owner, the Simms family is the most active dynasty of restaurateurs in the South Bay. Since opening the Kettle in 1973, the Simms’ family of restaurants has grown to include the Mimi’s and Lazy Dog Café chains, plus local favorites Tin Roof Bistro and Simmzy’s. The restaurant that is the foundation for the family’s empire has an unrivalled Manhattan Beach heritage. Only the Shellback Tavern and Ercoles, both primarily bars, have been open longer locally. Second-generation restaurateur Scott Simms tells the story of how his father got into the business, and how the family carried on from there. “My father A.J. Simms moved here for work in the 1940s. He ran the commissary for MGM…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com