Photo by Steve Ognibene
Low-key, unpretentious, cold beer at affordable prices -- that seems to be what keeps customers coming back to Kelly's Holland Inn on Evans Street in Batavia.
On Sunday, owner Gerry Potrzebowski celebrated the 50th anniversary of his father becoming the bar's owner.
Potrzebowski was still in high school when his father took on bar ownership on Feb. 17, 1994. The young man started working there a couple of years later, when he turned 18 and bought it from his father 11 years later, and he has plans to celebrate his 40th year as a tavern owner in August 2025.
"When my father first opened in 74, Doehler's was down the road," Potrzebowski said. "There were three full shifts. I mean, Doehler's was one of the big industries here. Then they closed, and all that changed. We used to have a kitchen, but after they closed up, there was no need for it."
Today, the clientele is a lot of local residents, but hockey at the David M. McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena is also a big draw. Potrzebowski himself played hockey for 40 years and was a long-time member of the Batavia Men's League. He's still involved with the league but stopped playing after back surgery a few years ago. Kelly's is a frequent hangout for league members.
Potrzebowski figures Kelly's and The Harvester are the only two true neighborhood, or corner, bars left in the city of Batavia.
"People that come to the hockey games -- we get a lot of people from out of town -- they're like, 'Wow, this is like a place out of the past.' They remember a lot of places like this that were once in Buffalo and Rochester. They come in, and they're like, 'Wow, this is like the bar we grew up with.' There aren't a lot of bars like this anymore."
Steve Pies, co-owner of Max Pies, who is also a Southside resident and long-time member of the men's hockey league, said Kelly's is a local institution.
"Gerry Potrzebowski is one of the most genuine, kind-hearted people you'll ever meet," Pies said. "Kelly's Holland Inn attracts all walks of life, and the mystique atmosphere is always consistent. The most inexpensive and coldest beer in Batavia. A true gem to our community."
The kitchen may be gone -- replaced by a chip rack, or the "food court," as Potrzebowski said customers call it -- but nearly everything else has remained pretty consistent at Kelly's for these past 50 years. It's still a friendly place for a cold one and good company. The biggest change recently, Potrzebowski said, is closing hours. Before the pandemic, bars stayed open until 2 a.m. Now, most are closed by 10 p.m. That's been driven by customer behavior, Potrzebowski suggested.
"I'd say 99 percent of the people who come in here have been hard-working people," Potrzebowski said. "That's what we cater to. We ain't no highfalutin place. It's pretty much, come in, have a couple of beers. The thing that is way different is from when I first started (the pandemic); bars were open until two o'clock every day, and that doesn't happen anymore. People go home early. Everybody is home, and that's just the way the business is now."
Photos by Steve Ognibene. Steve Ognibene conducted the interviews for this story.
Photo by Steve Ognibene
Photo by Steve Ognibene
Photo by Steve Ognibene
