Family-owned Randy's Pit Stop serving homemade, simple food

LACONIA — Randy’s Pit Stop, a new breakfast and lunch place on Union Avenue, promises food that is what it promises to be: the baseball equivalent of a fastball right down the middle.

“Everything here tastes like what it is,” said Chris Guilmette, one of two brothers who run Randy’s. He manages the front of the shop and Kamryn Guilmette runs the kitchen. They don’t feel the need to pull any surprises, because life has enough of those, something they both know well enough.

The Guilmettes grew up in Massachusetts, where their father, Randy, worked at an automotive shop. He was their hero, Chris said.

“He was a real gear head, adrenaline junkie,” Chris said. “He was a great guy,” but not what he would call a model father nor husband. In 2009, when Chris, the oldest of the children, was 13, Randy died as a result of injuries sustained a few years prior in a snowmobile accident.

The death of their father resulted in a chaotic period for the family, and the children ended up in foster care. Chris took on the role of parent for his four younger siblings.

Chris started to follow in his father’s footsteps. He learned the plumbing trade, and was very comfortable working on machines. But his career took him in a different direction, working with children at Spaulding Academy & Family Services in Northfield, where he spent a decade.

It was a good job, one that came with stability and benefits, but Chris decided to step away to create something new, both for him and his younger brother, Kamryn.

“Kamryn and I have very different interests in a lot of stuff,” Chris said, but one thing they shared was food. Kamryn was already a food professional, with stints at a few well-known establishments in the Lakes Region. Chris saw how hard he was working to benefit his employers, and wanted to create something where he could directly experience the fruits of his labor.

The first plan for the Guilmette brothers was to buy a food truck, and they came pretty close to following through. But before they pulled the trigger, Chris decided to call a trusted friend, Pedro Sosa, who had worked with him at Spaulding for many years before leaving to start Mami’s Restaurant in Laconia.

Sosa listened to their plan, and offered an alternative: Take over his restaurant. Chris didn’t know it at the time, but Sosa had already closed Mami’s — a high-end sneaker and apparel company he also owned in the southern part of the state was taking up too much of his time, and was more profitable than running a restaurant.

That conversation took place in October of last year, and things moved quickly. Randy’s opened Jan. 14.

It might run against conventional wisdom to open a restaurant in January, but it’s worked well so far for Randy’s.

“The community’s been awesome,” Chris said. They’ve had as much business as they could handle on many days — on one day serving 110 people in a restaurant that has six tables and a few counter spots. He said patrons have been “lenient” with him while he figures out how to write orders, ring out customers and keep everyone’s coffee cups full.

Chris said the food at Randy’s is straightforward, with an emphasis on freshness and cooking food to order. The only frozen product they buy is bread, he said.

“You are going to get honest food. It’s simple food done well,” Chris said.

In addition to the patience of his diners, Chris also said they owed their success to the Sosa-Perez family, who ran Mami’s, and to their own family members, who all helped them to get up and operating. That family vibe runs through the Randy’s experience, Chris said.

“It’s a family diner. Keep it simple, and keep it good,” he said.

He said he wants their food to provide comfort in a world that could use more of it.

“Life can definitely throw you a curveball,” Chris said.