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For anyone who grew up in Stratford, it’s hard to remember a time when you couldn’t go downtown and grab something off the Ken’s French Fries truck. Back before Festival Square became a gathering place for the city, Ken’s was the stop downtown to satisfy your cravings.
While those days might be gone, the iconinc truck is still a Stratford landmark and still cooking up those same delicious golden goodies to munch on. And now, the brand is under new ownership.
Laurie and Kevin Zehr bought the business from Keystone Hospitality and assumed control earlier this spring. And the Zehr family is pretty excited to become part of a Stratford tradition that Kevin remembers very well.
“I grew up in Shakespeare before we moved to town, and when we’d come here for a ball game or something we’d get Ken’s on the way home,” he said. “That’s back when the truck was downtown. And who knows, hopefully someday we’ll be able to set up down there again.”
The Zehrs first looked into purchasing the business a few years ago prior to Keystone’s acquisition of the two-truck operation. So while the timing might not have been perfect back then, it panned out when the chance came back around.
“When we found out it was coming back up for sale, we decided it was time to go for it,” Laurie said. “There’s a lot of pressure that comes with owning and running a well-known business like this, but we have our family working with us as we try to get things back to a completely family-run operation. And that counts Esther, who’s been on the truck for quite a few years… but we just want to run it as a family and keep it going as long as we possibly can.”
The menu expanded under previous ownership to include items other than the signature french fries, and that’s something that Kevin said they don’t plan on doing. The focus will remain on what the trucks do well, and he’s fine with that.
“We’re going to keep the poutine and the aioli and stuff that they introduced on both trucks, but other than that we’re sticking with just fries,” he said.
The reaction to their taking over the business has been positive, as both Laurie and Kevin say people are more than happy to see them serving things up from the order window at the Canadian Tire or Giant Tiger parking lots. They’ve put their mobility to good use, heading out of town to a few select places out of town. But loyal customers shouldn’t fret - the Zehrs have no intention of messing around with what works.
“You want to be creative, but you don’t want to mess up what you do,” Laurie said. “You want to know that when you come to Ken’s that you’re getting the same quality fries you’re used to and we want to make sure that happens.”
