WHATELY — On a drizzly Friday night last month, a group of friends sat around a picnic table at Tom’s Famous Long Hot Dog and Grill in Whately, trading stories and reminiscing about the stand’s 60-plus years of business.
“It’s like the days of old, just like going to the old A&Ws,” Mike Florio said about the current Tom’s, as he sat with fellow longtime Northampton residents and friends Ronnie Rogers, Ken and Donna Boudo, Nancy Samson and Bill Townsend.
Tom’s is the real deal — a throwback to a bygone era of drive-up restaurants, classic cars and community-based business, still appealing to grandparents and grandchildren alike. It’s a place with a rich history. Lots of people can recall the fire there in 1989 and how an enclosure was added six years ago.
The stand brings everyone from bikers to Boy Scouts together on common terms and has them coming back for generations.
While poor weather put a damper on the last classic car cruise night of the year, the rain didn’t dampen spirits or affect a communal and neighborly atmosphere pervading the quaint hot dog stand on Routes 5 and 10.
The group of friends faithfully attended this year’s weekly classic car cruise nights, which were revived last year after being held on-and-off over the past decade.
“It’s one of the greatest places in this Valley,” Florio said about Tom’s. “And it needs to be preserved.”
Preservation is exactly what owner and Whately native Gary Kloc and his wife, Marilee Kloc, had in mind when they bought the business three years ago from the LaBelle family, the stand’s longtime owners.
“As a kid, some of my earliest memories with my dad were coming here and ordering two hot dogs with relish each,” Gary Kloc said.
As he spoke, Kloc leaned against the counter next to the serving window, in front of a retro “Tom’s Hot Dogs” sign. He pointed to a few framed black-and-white photographs of Tom’s through the years and explained that the business was started in 1954 by Harold LaBelle. Harold named the business after his son, Tom LaBelle.
The dreariness outside and patter of rain on the roof contrasted with the cheerful chatter inside and with the neon “Open” sign that hung in the window.
Kloc, whose family has owned the Whately Inn since the late 1970s — and who worked at Danco Modern furniture store in West Hatfield for 30 years — grew up going to Tom’s.
He can remember when “Tom himself used to come in and bake his meatballs. And I remember he would always leave half a dozen.
“I heard they were thinking about selling, and I, at the same time, knew I needed a change,” he continued. “I bought a reputation: I didn’t start a new business. I’ll be forever indebted for the great foundation.”
The business means a lot to Gary and Marilee Kloc, whose daughters Fallen and Taylor worked at the stand before they purchased it.
“He just decided to take a major left turn,” Marilee Kloc said about the career change while sitting at the picnic table. “When we started dating 31 years ago, we used to come here.”
According to Gary Kloc, the secret to Tom’s success and longevity is a great “reputation, loyal customer base and really good food at a fair price.”
Since taking over, Kloc said the menu hasn’t changed, besides the addition of a few of his wife’s recipes. While Tom’s also offers hamburgers and grinders, what makes it “famous” is its long hot dogs, which come in every combo from “bacon cheese dog” to “pepper dog.” Prices are around $3.45 for a hot dog and a little less than $5 for a hamburger.
“If you can think it, we can make it,” Gary Kloc said. “Within reason, of course.”