After 8 years, Grumbellies in Fort Ann closes

By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer

Hugs were dished out as frequently as chicken wings Saturday night as customers streamed in to say goodbye to Grumbellies Eatery in downtown Fort Ann.

It was the final night of what owner/chef Jeff Hamblin calls “the last of the family-oriented music halls.”

Grumbellies had been around for eight years. But recently, the owner of the 115-year-old building on the corner of Catherine and Ann streets, Mr. Hamblin’s aunt Mary Goodsell Webb, passed away.

Now, her estate aims to sell the building. Mr. Hamblin and his wife Irma Hamblin, who was Grumbellies’ manager, made a bid, but Mrs. Hamblin said she was told they were outbid by a cash offer.

“We had invested a lot of money into this building, because we assumed eventually we would own it,” she said.

“But it didn’t work out that way. So the estate is selling everything now, and we just couldn’t come to a reasonable price on the building.”

Last Friday, Grumbellies hosted its final karaoke night. “So many people were crying,” Mrs. Hamblin said. “It’s tough because the whole community is like, we don’t want you to go. We have a huge following. People loved it here. They said it’s like coming home.

“It’s like they’re going through a death,” she said. “They’re grieving, really, because when they come in, they’re home. We kept it that way on purpose.”

Grumbellies felt like a gathering place of friends. Mrs. Hamblin hugged customers when they walked in.

“Most folks don’t even know who their neighbors are anymore, but when you walk in here everybody knows everybody,” Mr. Hamblin said.

Live music was a big part of Grumbellies’ final night, as it has been for many evenings at the eatery over the years. Mrs. Hamblin calls it “good therapy.”

The Hamblins did what they could to keep Grumbellies’ food affordable.

“You treat people like family and friends,” Mr. Hamblin said. “Don’t treat them like an income. I drive to Albany every Monday to buy groceries because if I can save the money I can pass the savings on to the people….

“Most of my people are elderly, they’re all on fixed budgets. If you make the food cheap enough and give them decent entertainment, they can come out. And then they’re socializing with others that are in the same position they’re in.”

Mrs. Hamblin said, “We’ve tried so hard to keep our prices low because we know we’re in farm country here. They can’t afford it. So we’ve kept our prices reasonable because of people like that.”

Grumbellies was active beyond the building. A Grumbellies Concert in the Park Series ran Monday evenings from the end of June through the first week of September. “We would do a lineup of musicians to play each week and they would play for whatever we could raise through fundraisers,” Mrs. Hamblin said.

Grumbellies was also heavily involved in production of the Battle Hill Fourth of July Parades.

The Hamblins live in Glens Falls. Mr. Hamblin was previously a truck driver, delivering food with different companies through the Glens Falls area. But he always had a passion for cooking. He said he went to culinary school as a teenager, and long dreamed of owning a restaurant.

A devastating personal event ultimately led him to pursue that dream.

In 2004, Mr. Hamblin had a saw accident that caused him to lose feeling in his left hand and forearm. He said the doctors told him he would never be able to drive truck again. So he gave up his CDL.

His Aunt Mary offered him a lifeline. She owned the building on the corner of Catherine and Ann Streets that had originally housed the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and then the American Legion. She asked if he wanted to follow his dream of cooking in his own restaurant.

Mr. and Mrs. Hamblin, formerly a deputy tax receiver for the town of Queensbury, decided they would try.

Mr. Hamblin said his aunt helped out by not charging them rent for the first six months, and the state chipped in with a $5,000 grant. The Hamblins themselves put $15,000 into the project, and they were off and running.

Mr. Hamblin has had multiple surgeries for knee replacement and ankle reconstruction. He’s legally disabled, but “just because you’re disabled doesn’t mean you can’t work,” he said.

The Hamblins have been looking for a new home for Grumbellies. So far, no luck. “We’re really hoping we can find someplace else, but it’s a struggle right now in this economy,” Mrs. Hamblin said. “Everything’s sky high.”

Despite those difficulties, she’s still urging people: “Don’t give up on us.”

Mr. Hamblin talks with pride in his voice about how he helped create a community at Grumbellies. He thinks that wherever Grumbellies ends up next — if in fact it does have another iteration at all — it just won’t be the same as the restaurant on the corner of Catherine and Ann.

“I can move anywhere,” he said. “But we’re never going to be this.”

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