The iconic Henry’s Restaurant—the heart and soul of the downtown dining scene since 1959—now continues that tradition under the new ownership of Kelly Steele and her son Max.
With a long line of local restaurant history under their belts, including Casa D'Angelo's, Broadway Joe's, Laycoffs, Pine Valley Bar & Grill and The 412 Club, it seemed to Max and Kelly that Henry's, founded by Henry Freistroffer and run by his sons until the sale, was in their destiny.
Max also credits his grandfather, Tom, and father, T.J., the owners of Tom Steele Tire Service, for instilling in him a deep and dedicated work ethic that continues to influence his career path.
Julia Meek and Max discuss the passion and expertise they are bringing to the table, the magic of the landmark they are dedicated to preserving and what its tagline: “Meet Me at Henry’s” means to the entire community.
Find hours and menu at the Henry's Restaurant website.
Here is the transcript of our conversation:
Julia Meek: Max Steele, welcome.
Max Steele: Thank you for having me.
Julia Meek: So you and your mom have been working overtime there on Main Street. How does it feel to be at the helm of this iconic Fort Wayne landmark?
Max Steele: Well, it's a very gratifying thing. I think the biggest thing that we look at is some of the fixtures downtown, like the Cindy's, the Coney Islands, the Gas House, to be a part of something like that for something that's been going on since 1959.
t's, it's something that you don't take for granted for sure, and you feel blessed every day to wake up, and you know have that opportunity to, to cater to people in that special place.
Julia Meek: It is a special place, and you are running a special place now. You are no newcomer to the multi-generational family business. Tom Steele tires are everywhere. How would you say that background prepared you for this big crazy step?
Max Steele: Well, I would say I owe it all to my father and then my grandfather, both Tom and TJ. Having to work at the tire shop ever since you were a little kid. Grandpa always used to give us a flat screwdriver and a bucket and, and pick weeds throughout the tire shop, [both chuckle} and it was just something, he always found something for us to do.
And we would always tell him like, "Well, if we have some like weed killer, this stuff doesn't come back." And he would always say, "No, in about three, four months, that'll give you something to do."
So, the hard work that they both instilled in me definitely set me up for you know a good opportunity for me being a young manager, running everything. I feel like that was, that was very influential for both of them for me.
Julia Meek: From the ground-up experience, with the weed picking, exactly.
Max Steele: Absolutely, yeah, yeah.
Julia Meek: Also in full disclosure, you did cut your teeth in the next step of your industrious life working at Laycoff's.
Max Steele: Yeah
Julia Meek: So you did have an entry into the food and spirits business?
Max Steele: Yeah, so my mother's brother Jimmy, he owns Laycoff's. He's owned it ever since he was fresh out of college.
And you know, growing up there as a young kid, you know, you get to the age of 11-12, and like my dad and my grandpa, you got to look for something to do. Always stay busy. So, I started dishwashing in there.
Eventually, cooking all the food. So, I learned a lot in the restaurant from the back of the house. That's what kind of propelled me to think, you know, I want to try to bartend, serve.
So, I did that throughout high school, college, post grad, and I felt like this was something that was kind of propelling me to do this for a career.
Julia Meek: Good for you, and you really did have in your in your heart and in your soul, as well as in your work, your young work background.
Max Steele: Yeah, right.
Julia Meek: Is it safe to say that you enjoyed the place you own now, Henry's, as a customer, at least from the front of the house, long before the purchase?
Max Steele: Well, so after, after college, I had moved away to a plethora of places, and when I turned 21, I never really, when I came back home, I never really went to Henry's.
You know, I used to work for the previous owner, John Freistroffer, at C Street as a bar-back, and I was familiar with him owning Henry's. However, that was just something I never visited.
Once we started to figure out that this was something that we were potentially going to purchase, we started going there, and that was definitely something that I would look around and say, like, this is the place for me.
I would have felt uneasy if we had gone with another place, because this is such an iconic landmark in town, and just to have the opportunity to run it is something that, again, I feel very blessed, and I don't take for granted.
Julia Meek: We're glad that you had that vision, the insight, and certainly never take it for granted, all great ideas.
Max Steele: Right, absolutely.
Julia Meek: Okay, the venue itself has always been surrounded by ready-made foot traffic, including journalists, hospital crews, West Central regulars. Now the businesses have changed, and by now cars rule in Fort Wayne. What's the traffic flow over there currently?
Max Steele: I always like to say it's the same old Henrys. I know we are new owners, but at the same time, we still love our diverse background of everybody. As far as you know, theater, sports fans, anybody that wants to come, anybody is welcome at Henry's. And I think that's the nature of what makes Henry's such a special place.
Julia Meek: Indeed, and does the downtown development, especially on that riverfront very near you, directly impact your world, then?
Max Steele: I would say so. I think the biggest thing for kind of the downtown landmark and hospitality known as the late-night bar, you get a lot of servers and bartenders from other places that they get off work, and then this is their hotspot.
So, I've come to be friends with like a lot of people from the downtown restaurants, and that's something that is a huge impact for our restaurant.
And we wouldn't be where we are without that late night crowd after you know their shifts from all of those restaurants, not even through downtown, but all throughout town that come here.
Courtesy/Henry's
Julia Meek: Indeed, and that includes even during and then post-COVID; a lot of places were drastically changing. Henry stayed true to the latest crazy crowd that it could through that. And then immediately jump back into that late night.
It is a haven for so many people, me included, sometimes that needs to hit that late night thing. You are looking to accommodate all those people, not try to shrink the hours.
Max Steele: No, we're not the ones that will shy anybody away. I mean, we are welcome to anybody, and we want to keep that diverse background of what makes Henry's Henry's.
Julia Meek: And the kitchen's open and ready and waiting with the same old good food.
Max Steele: Yes, absolutely. We do have the same old good food that we've always had: the burgers, the fried fish, and everything. We are working towards coming out here within the next week. We have some new menu items that we're going to feature here.
It's still going to be the same old menu, not getting rid of anything, but just adding some things, kind of just putting a little pizzazz on everything. That makes everything a lot more special to us, I guess.
Julia Meek: And even with all of your staying true to yourselves, to your landmark, and everyone actually in Fort Wayne that loves it, was it a challenge to assure all of those regulars we just talked about that it was still their Henry's?
Max Steele: Yeah, I mean the biggest thing about just owning a restaurant in general is it's, it's always changing, and you kind of just go with the flow of everything. Of when's slow season, when's busy season.
It could be a topsy turvy kind of situation, and you kind of just got to roll with the punches for everything. So, a lot of other managers, owners of restaurants, can say the same thing: you roll with the punches, and you'll definitely have your good days, you'll have your bad days.
But you still got to fight through and learn to enjoy the little things that make a big difference in what you do in your everyday life as a restaurant owner, I would say.
Julia Meek: Which is why you are in the place you are right here right now, and good for you. So, one old custom that you have actually resurrected is the weekly live music scene.
Max Steele: Yes.
Julia Meek: Thank you for that. How's that working for you?
Courtesy/Henry's
Max Steele: It's working great. So, once me and my mother, we entered in and we just came in and we listened to the staff and we listened to our clientele of what was missing and what needed to be fixed and what needed to be resurrected. And the biggest thing was definitely the live music.
And we kind of just let them do all the work with you know, getting everybody as far as the musicians. I mean, we have everything lined up till the end of the year as far as musicians.
And we do love our Saturdays from 10 to 12 of all of our musicians, which have anything from R&B to rock to folk. What makes Henry such a diverse place with a diverse music...it's perfect on Saturday nights.
Julia Meek: And it fits the city just perfectly, especially on Saturday nights.
Max Steele: Yes, absolutely, yeah!
Julia Meek: So, okay, jumping right in as you did, what would you say was the very easiest part of this transition?
Max Steele: I would say definitely being able to work with, with your mother for sure. I will truly say to myself, I am a mother's boy. My, my brother can vouch for me for that. [both chuckle] He's more so like my dad, but I've always been like my mom.
So doing that, it's weird when you go from mother-son to boss-manager in a sense that we've definitely butted heads from time to time. But we all know that we just want the best for each other, and she pushes me really hard as she always has throughout my life.
And I wouldn't be in the situation where I'm at right now if it wasn't for her. So that's definitely the most gratifying thing: is going to work and doing this all with my family for sure.
Julia Meek: What a great feeling! Thank you so much for sharing that. And on the flip side, taking on an old, old building like yours, that has had so much grandfathered in, rolled along with everything that's going on. How hard was it to update, modernize it, make it 21st century happening, cool?
Max Steele: Yeah, right--that, that can be a challenge at times. It's definitely an old bar, as everybody sees from the inside and outside.
So, there'll be times every day, you know, from time to time that you'll see like, oh, that needs fixed, or that needs repaired, [Julia chuckles] or we need a new this, or we need a new that.
But we knew that going into it, that it's not modernized as much as you know the next place down the road. But that's what makes it so iconic, and that's what gets people coming back.
I think the big part about that is kind of the whole vibe and ambiance of the place is what makes it so special. So, definitely being able to fix that and kind of still keep the same thing, the same thing.
Julia Meek: And you do have plenty of tools in that toolkit, as you have explained in your growing up, that you can think on the fly. Be there with the right wrench or the right bucket and whatever it is.
Max Steele: Absolutely, absolutely!
Julia Meek: You sound pretty, if not unflappable, you certainly sound ready for anything.
Max Steele: Well, you got to be able to do...be multitasking. You're never doing just one thing. There's always many things that are going through your head of what's, what's next or what do I got to do?
Julia Meek: And then one more thing happens after that. [both chuckle]
Max Steele: Yeah, yes, absolutely, yes, yeah. You, you, it's never ending. You're always going.
Julia Meek: Now, all of this, especially in your opening days, unfortunately included inspections of every sort. You've been through them all. That board of health edict after you opened had to have hit hard for you. How were you able to fix the problem, minimize the negativity, and move on?
Max Steele: You know, I would say it was a long two days for that--to be crushed by that. You know, we didn't really expect that. We're new owners, not only in the restaurant industry.
I mean, this is something as far as me and my mom have done: owning a place, running a place. There's a lot more to everything, and that's, like you said, that's a challenge that you face that you, you're not expecting. And that was a challenge that we did not expect.
So, it hit hard, but at the same time, we were lucky to have such an amazing support system from our clientele. We issued a post out on our social media. My cousin, she's a big help. She is a PR specialist, and she said the best thing for you is to to issue this, put it out.
And just the overflow of support was so emotional to me, and it was a big thing that kept me going through it all. It was a tough time, but it just showed how truly special this place is, and how much it means to other people. And that's what really got me going through it.
Julia Meek: And right when you needed it, yes, yes. Thank you for sharing that. That's quite an encouragement that you had from everyone that does love you. Now, what has all of this process, including the good, the bad, and the ugly, taught you about yourselves and your clientele?
Max Steele: Yeah, I always look at this quote that the the journey is more important than the destination. So taking it day by day, I think is more important than anything. You can't do everything at once that you would like to do.
But I think the biggest thing is learning day by day as far as what we need to do to be successful, how we can enhance our clientele to not only keep the same clientele that we have had for years and years, but also bring in newcomers and new people that would like to enjoy Henry's and you know have an everlasting fixture here.
That's something that I think that I just want to continue to do that, and it's really important to me to keep all those remaining things a constant at Henry's.
Julia Meek: Sure, it's critical indeed. And beyond those horrors that are now corrected, were there any other surprises along the way--hopefully not bad?
Max Steele ; Oh, you're always going to get surprises in this industry, yeah, good and bad. It is something that I keep on saying the word. It's gratifying. It's gratifying. You don't work for something that isn't worth it.
The hard work stuff that you put in, it's gratifying once it gets done and you see the result of things. So I understand that it's going to be even more things that I'll have to tackle as far as challenges and and new comings. But I'm looking forward to it and I'm ready for it.
Julia Meek: So far, has there been a single sign that has let you know this was the right path that you're on?
Max Steele: So, I find it funny. I think my profession that I was in before coming back home to Fort Wayne to work with my mother was that she, she was big on getting me back home.
I had accepted a job in Charlotte. I was going to be working for their NBA team down there. That's what I did before here. I was a season ticket salesman for Notre Dame for 18 months, and then for the Pacers for a year.
Julia Meek: That's quite a job change.
Max Steele: Right And I'm a sports junkie, so it was kind of my fixture. It was something that I loved to do. And the biggest part about that industry is that you move from place to place in order to climb up that corporate ladder.
And I had talked to almost every team on the eastern side of the country. I mean, if you have a team that you would just think in your head, you would say, "I probably have talked to them."
And how many opportunities that I got shut down or I got told no. It led me to here. So, I've figured out that like all the failures, all of the no's, it sets you up for future success.
Like this is something that you were not meant to be. This is something that is going to kind of push you forward where you need to be. And I'm very thankful for that. All of those failures, all those no's, brought me to where I'm at right now, and I couldn't be happier about it.
Julia Meek: One great big yes.
Max Steele: Yeah, yeah.
Julia Meek: So back to that legacy that comes along with the business you've adopted. Your ever faithful staff is just that. The food's great, and sounds like going to be even more great stuff.
Max Steele: Yes.
Julia Meek: Music's back. Seasonal decorations are spooktacular this time of year.
Max Steele: Yep, absolutely.
Julia Meek: What else might we look forward to going on down that path with you now?
Max Steele: I would say the biggest thing as far as just getting people in the door through new things. I know people want to kind of have the same old classic feel of Henry's, but also bring in that new clientele that's kind of searching for something that is important to them.
So I know a big thing that everybody asked me and my mother about was that seafood raw bar. We are working through potentially getting that back as soon as possible. I know that was a big fixture before COVID.
So we wanna look into the logistics of that and hopefully get that back here in the future, but also just keeping the same things a constant because that's why Henry's is still Henry's.
Julia Meek: And last question, Max, that grand tagline, "Meet me at Henry's," --it means community and making memories to 1000s upon 1000s of loyal locals by now and regionals. Beyond long hours, hard work, nonstop dedication, honestly, what does it mean to you?
Max Steele: Well, I just love the slogan; it just rolls right off the tongue. I mean, it's something that I say now to my friends and family, and it's always going to remain a constant for as long as I can, for that place.
And just to keep it an iconic landmark in Fort Wayne, so it is truly a good thing to tell people to meet me at Henry's.
Julia Meek: Max Steele and his mom Kelly are the new owners of Henry's restaurant here in Fort Wayne. Thanks for taking time from your very, very busy day to share your story with us, Max. Many blessings, carry it on.
Max Steele: Thank you, Julia. Thank you for having me.
