Keenan's Restaurant in Irondequoit to close June 30 after 31 years

More than 1,000 clippings in the Democrat and Chronicle archives reflect just how much Keenan's Restaurant has been a part of the Irondequoit community for the past 31 years.

There have been celebrations: graduation parties, weddings, class reunions and holiday meals. Obituaries mention the restaurant as a place to gather after funerals. Calendar listings show that it has been a frequent meeting place for groups like a retiree's association, the Kiwanis Club, the Lion's Club, singles groups and business associations. 

Weary wizards had breakfast there on July 22, 2007, after a late night staying up to purchase Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final novel of the series, written by British author J. K. Rowling.

For the past five years, the restaurant has catered the lunch program at Bishop Kearney, the Roman Catholic high school in Irondequoit.

And a guy once placed a personals ad looking to reconnect with a blond girl he met in the next checkout at the Wegmans on Hudson Avenue; Keenan's was the meeting place he proposed. 

It's time for many to start hunting for a new special spot, as the restaurant will serve dinner for its last time on June 30. 

“It’s time to move on," said Jim Romano, 69, who has owned or co-owned the restaurant for 30 of its 31 years. "It's been a nice run."

Sue Roe started Keenan's in 1986 in an old farmhouse near the corner of Titus and Hudson avenues; the building has since been bulldozed and a Dunkin' Donuts stands in its place. At the time, Romano tended bar at night; a year later, he would buy in as a partner. For years, Roe worked the daytime shifts and Romano would start in the afternoon and work until the restaurant closed at 2 a.m.

The restaurant moved to Georgetown Plaza, a strip mall on East Ridge Road, in 1996. Its seating expanded from 80 people to 180.

Five years ago, Roe decided to retire in order to have more time to visit her children, who live in California, and Romano bought her out.

"I wasn't ready to retire yet," Romano said. "Now I am."

He said his lease and liquor license were set to be renewed, and he was looking at the cost of doing some decorative updates.

"I don't want to spend money on something I don't see growing," he said. 

He has found it more and more difficult to run an independent restaurant that serves classic American and Italian dishes. East Ridge Road has seen increased competition from chain restaurants and fast food places. And many of his customers have died, and the younger generation is more interested in heading downtown and following the latest food fad, he said.

A recent early afternoon was reflective of the trends that Romano described, as most patrons were of retirement age. 

"We're broken hearted," said Joyce Madonia of Ogden, part of a lively threesome. having lunch. She, along with Florence Lacagnina and Janet Northrup of Greece, are members of an extended family they call the "Dretto clan," and have been meeting at the restaurant since it was on Hudson Avenue. 

The family held its annual mother-daughter dinner in the restaurant's private room for years. The group — it numbered 26 last year, 19 this year — involves sharing notes about who has passed away, who has had a marriage or a birth in the family ... "and how good the old days were," said Northrup. They kept going to the restaurant for the good food and the service, which they said was "out of this world."

Joni Rehbach, 60, a life-long resident of Irondequoit, has been going to Keenan's for "years and years and years." 

"Keenans has just been a joy," she said. It has been the go-to place for birthday parties, first Communion celebrations and neighborhood parties. The family would visit at Christmas because "it was always so decorated so nice."

"I'm going to miss the place," she said. "It's kind of sad to see it go."

While Romano said he is bittersweet, he notes that he has put in seven-day weeks for "a long time." Come July, he plans to "relax and do nothing — at least for awhile."

"I haven't relaxed for so long, I've forgotten what it's like," he said.

TRACYS@Gannett.com