“I think there are people that miss Lenny and so do we but I think they are glad to have it open. It’s a beautiful building. It’s too bad to have it closed.” Calhoon calls the restaurant Friends “because I have a lot of friends working here and we want friends to come and hang out.” “I’ve always wanted to have a business of my own and the opportunity came up to do it and so I took it,” Calhoon said during an interview last week. “I’ve been admiring people who have been doing things that they wanted to do and making choices and taking chances lately and decided I can’t be complaining about it if I don’t take advantage of my own opportunities.

I just jumped in to see if it was going to make my happy.” So far, it has made Calhoon happy. “I love it down here. I’m having a blast,” said Calhoon. “It’s been going really, really well. I think. There are a lot of things to learn and we’ve been really, really busy.” Calhoon basically likes everything about the business. However, the new restaurant owner said he didn’t necessarily have to buy a restaurant. “I would have done any kind of business where I could be downtown and work in the community and just do something on my own.”

Calhoon, 47, is both owner and manager of the restaurant. He has experience in the food service business as a manager from when he was in high school and college. That was 25 years ago, he said. Calhoon has been teaching since he got out of college and he continues to do that as well. His new schedule is on top of his regular job as a choral music teacher at Brodhead Middle School and High School and the high school show choir director. “It works, he said about his schedule. “It’s just a lot of planning with my time and not having a lot of free time, which is fine.”

Since taking over, Calhoon has made several changes. As a musician, he has added a piano, which he and community members play. They’ve made it a non-smoking bar and they generally close earlier than before, so there’s less emphasize on the bar part of the business. Calhoon has made changes to the menu as well. Lenny had great food and they are continuing that, Calhoon said. He said they have a chef “who is really, really good.”

Calhoon said they’ve simplified the menu. “As we become more familiar with things we’ll take things off and add things on until we’re secure with what we want.” One thing that is apparent is that meals are reasonably priced. There are daily specials except for Tuesday when they try to feature a new sandwich “and just try something new on the menu.” They expect to add Taco Tuesdays starting this month and then all the days will have a special.