TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hill's Restaurant Back In Two Minutes

ADVERTISEMENT

By LAURA KINSLER

lkinsler@tampatrib.com

Published: January 24, 2009

ZEPHYRHILLS - For years, "Two Minutes" for food was a slogan and pledge at Hill's Family Restaurant.

Now it's the name of Kruth Sombutmai's newest venture.

The restaurant and grocery store at State Road 54 and Morris Bridge Road was hugely popular and built on prime real estate. After years of saying no, Sombutmai agreed to sell the corner lot to pharmacy giant CVS, which will open its new drugstore Sunday.

When he auctioned off the fixtures of the landmark restaurant in April, Sombutmai promised to reopen as soon as possible. Eight months to the day, he kept his promise and reopened in the former Beantown's Best on Sixth Street.

The John Wayne photos are back, and so are the Kurtski burgers and Friday fish dinners. And the lines.

Sombutmai tried retirement. He fiddled around in the garden. He took a vacation, spending two months in his native Thailand visiting family and friends. He tried to sleep in.

"When I got out of that place, I thought I'd be able to sleep until 9 or 10 a.m.," he said. "But I still wake up at 5."

He missed his customers.

The feeling was mutual.

"You can get a good meal anywhere," longtime customer Roy Smith said as he polished off a fish dinner. "But you can't get his service. We come here for his personality."

Smith, like many Hill's devotees, found out about the new location by accident. He bumped into Sombutmai at a hardware store. Other diners stumbled on the location by chance or heard about it at church or from a neighbor.

Within a few weeks, they were squeezing into the small diner and sitting at tables with total strangers. Before long, they were swapping stories about grandchildren.

"I like the way he has the tables set up; you always meet new people," Caron Aymer said.

Sombutmai wanted to stay in the area. He bought some land on S.R. 54, but with the down economy, it would have taken him four years to get the permits and financing to build his dream restaurant.

"I couldn't wait that long," he said.

He decided to look for an existing restaurant space that was in turnkey condition. In December, Sombutmai agreed to take a look at Beantown's Best, a small restaurant on Sixth Street that specialized in Philly cheesesteaks and hand-cut fries. He made an offer the next day.

"My main thing was, I wanted to open in the season," he said.

He immediately expanded the hours, bringing back the most popular items from Hill's - including the $2.99 breakfast special.

"You can't beat the breakfast," Smith said. "It's the best deal in town."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: "Two Minutes" restaurant

WHERE: 5709 Sixth Street, Zephyrhills

HOURS: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 779-4617.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT