Kutzas Kitchen in Jersey Shore is a community favorite for American style food. Located at 318 Wilson St. in Jersey Shore, the family-owned business offers meals for sit down and take out, as well as catering for events.
The restaurant opened for business in 2016, and has since expanded its menu and catering services.
“A lot of our customers aren’t customers, they’re family. They’ve become family over the last five years. We went from someone they get food from, to people who are like family. It’s a huge gift to us,” said Crystal Kutza.
The owner, Christopher Kutza, is a native of the Jersey Shore area and a graduate from Jersey Shore High School. He runs the operation with help from Crystal Kutza, his mother.
“I enjoy the customers, I really enjoy it. …I love what we do. …This opportunity came about. It’s something my mom always wanted to do, too — She helps me out,” said Chrisopher Kutza.
“I’ve always shown how I care about people with cooking, whether it be my kids, my grandkids, that’s how I show them that I care, through cooking,” she said.
The pair enjoy working together as a family-owned business.
“It’s the best because they know what to expect from you. You know what to expect from them. We make each other happy, doing what we love,” she said.
The restaurant serves a selection of sandwiches, specialty burgers, cheesesteaks, cosmos, daily specials, weekly desserts, appetizers and more.
“Christopher wanted it to be stuff he grew up on, our specials are homemade food that he grew up on. He always wanted to make sure no one left here hungry. They’re going to know they ate when they came here,” she said.
“We’ve had chicken gravy over stuffing, cheese filled shells, meatballs, we do meatball subs as a special, stuff like that. …We started expanding into burgers. We have specialty burgers now. We use my smoked cheese on some of them,” he said.
During the pandemic when local schools were shut down, Kutzas Kitchen teamed up with the local YMCA and other community members to make sure the kids who were missing school had food to eat.
“The kids looked forward to it — To get out, and not be stuck in the house. It’s something that we are all proud of,” she said.
During this time, the restaurant fed around 100 kids every week day.
“We did that with the community, YMCA, parents, grandparents. We worked together. People don’t realize how many children go without food,” she said.
Daily specials and desserts are often shared to Kutzas Kitchen Facebook page.
Some of the foods that have been available for catering include potato salad, sweet and sour pasta salad, fruit trays, homemade mac and cheese, barbecue pulled pork, Mississippi pot roast and more.
The restaurant has recently expanded its catering services to larger events, such as large parties and weddings.
“We just got into bigger events, weddings. …Any normal stuff that people need catered. …Family reunions, surprise birthday parties. …We do a lot of catering,” he said.
Perfect for summer days, the shop also has a Slush Puppy machine available with a selection of flavors, including blue raspberry, lemon lime, cherry, watermelon and sour flavoring called shocker.
To learn more about the restaurant, visit Kutzas Kitchen on facebook.
Kutzas Kitchen is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.