Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Local restaurant changes hands

There has been some confusion concerning a couple of local restaurants.

First, yes, the Fish Nest Restaurant is no longer in Prescott, but the building continues to house a family restaurant.

Next, Ron and Kelia Murphy did buy the Fish Nest and have renamed it Murphy's. At this time, they are using the Fish Nest's menus until a new one is printed for Murphy's.

Now, Wolves isn't closing, nor do the Murphy's have any plans to close Wolves. Yes, it was closed for about a week-and-a-half, but this was done to allow Kelia and Ron time to clean, inventory and set up Murphy's the way they wanted it.

OK, is this all clear now.

The Murphy's bought the Fish Nest on December 19, 2003, from Elmer Stroud, owner of the Fish Nest chain, who hadn't been in Prescott for almost a year.

"We're not trying to put anyone out of business," said Kelia Murphy. "This is our home and we want to offer something for everyone. Wolves wasn't a new restaurant when we bought it."

The Murphys also didn't get rid of all the help at the Fish Nest, but gave everyone the opportunity to keep their job. Kelia said three people chose not to stay.

Murphy's family restaurant and steakhouse is currently open seven-days-a-week, with the crew working around modifications being made. Kelia said they are having new signs made for the building, with one to be near the highway and another to be placed on the roof. The service personnel will be getting new shirts with the Murphy's logo and the interior will be repainted and remodeled as they go along.

"It's not going to be all fish and seafood," Kelia said. "There will be some menu changes, but there will be no catfish steaks." They will be keeping the catfish filets, though, and catfish will be on the buffet.

For the most part, she said, the menu will remain much the same it is now. However, there could be changes to the buffet, as they are considering theme nights, such as Mexican or Italian buffets.

Kelia stressed Wolves will not be closing and its personnel will stay there with Ron overseeing operations there because he prefers short-order to regular restaurant fare.

"Wolves has a good crew," she said, "and we have two kitchens there. It will remain open and be a short-order kitchen. Murphy's will not be a short-order restaurant. We're not making any changes at Wolves."

Some of the Wolves personnel will work weekends at Murphy's, she said, but everyone will get time off so they can have a life.

"We wouldn't have considered this without having the Wolves family we have. We know we can depend on them and will be working to make the Murphy's crew a family as well."

Kelia pointed out while Murphy's will continue to cater to the trucking business, it is not a truck stop and any inappropriate behavior toward the waitresses will not be tolerated. "This is a family restaurant," she said, "and we won't put up with it."

Future plans for Murphy's, she said, includes the installation of televisions, with the volume off, and soft music playing in the background. Booths will eventually be installed at Murphy's as well.

There are about 18 employees at Murphy's and five at Wolves. Kelia said they will work around family schedules to allow the waitresses to remain involved in school and social functions.

Murphy's, she added, will also be participating in the Shop Prescott First campaign.