HOLYOKE — After eating her hot dog and drinking chocolate milk at a picnic table outside Nick’s Nest, Avara Lamontaigne, 4, smiles and makes a thumb’s up gesture.
“Hot dogs are her favorite food,” says Marianne Taylor, who took her granddaughter out to lunch at the century-old restaurant, where her own parents brought her countless times as a child to enjoy the exact same meal.
“We’d come here all the time,” said Taylor, of South Hadley. “We always ate in the car when I was growing up.”
For Gianna Fazzina and Desmond Gonet, both of Holyoke, Nick’s Nest has similarly been a part of their lives as long as they can remember. Now they try to eat at the popular Northampton Street restaurant at least once a week.
“It’s a quick stop, and it’s always good,” Fazzina said.
Even when there is a line of customers queued up outside due to the small space indoors, it’s not a problem. “I don’t mind the wait because their hot dogs are the best,” Fazzina said.
As owners Jennifer and Kevin Chateauneuf celebrate Nick’s Nest’s 100th anniversary this year, customers continue to come for the food and the restaurant’s customs, including having employees pull a cord that opens the door for customers exiting, catching some people by surprise as they are departing with their hands full.
“Who does that?” Taylor said. “No one has a door like that.”
The origins of Nick’s Nest date to Nick Malfas starting a popcorn cart on the streets of downtown Holyoke in 1921 before moving to the current location on Northampton Street in 1927, and then into the current building that opened in 1948. The exterior remains mostly unchanged, with yellow and red awnings and “pop corn” written in neon above the Nick’s Nest sign perched atop the building.
The Malfas family owned Nick’s Nest until 2005, when the Chateauneuf’s purchased it from the founder’s grandson, Charlie Malfas.
Chateauneuf said she and her husband had always worked in the restaurant industry and wanted to own either a bar or restaurant. As Holyoke natives, they went on occasional dates to the restaurant, and seeing the huge for sale sign prompted their decision to buy. “We’re very happy we have this place and not a bar,” Chateauneuf said.
The owners feel bound by tradition that customers find so appealing.
For instance, the hot dogs are made specifically for Nick’s Nest by a Connecticut company and the recipe for how they are prepared remains unchanged. That includes steaming both the hot dogs and the buns and rolling the wieners in a special sauce that Chateauneuf said she cannot divulge, no matter how many guesses people might make. Then chili cheese, sour cream, bacon and jalapeno peppers can be added to the conventional toppings like ketchup, mustard, relish and onions. A hot dog of the month promotion is also underway.
Baked beans, another specialty that uses an historic recipe, and popcorn, remain staples alongside the hot dogs.
In the 16 years the Chateauneufs have owned the restaurant, they have continued to augment the menu, with one of first the creation of an ice cream counter made from a former office on the side where numerous off-street parking spaces are reserved for customers.
“Soft serve was a new thing when we opened,” Chateauneuf said, adding that they use the creamiest ice cream and have 24 flavors, though vanilla and twist remain popular.
Chicken strips, cheese curds and waffle fries are among other items added, as well as a freezer with ice cream cakes and ice cream sandwiches,.
“We’ve tried to add to the menu without taking anything away,” Chateauneuf said. “We want Nick’s Nest to be Nick’s Nest.”
The restaurant also serves potato salad and macaroni salad that are homemade by Marie Chateauneuf, Jennifer’s mother-in-law, who also specializes in soups of the day.
“Everybody loves homemade soup,” Marie Chateauneuf said. “People don’t have time to cook.”
When the pandemic began, Jennifer Chateauneuf said she was worried about whether Nick’s Nest could survive it, but soon discovered that what it has is an ideal and easy grab-and-go format, with many generations accustomed to taking food back to their vehicles. “A lot of people eat in their cars, it’s a Nick’s Nest thing,” Chateauneuf said.
“People haven’t really been scared to come here due to our set up,” she said.
The business also got a Payroll Protection Program loan that has supported the 19 employees during most of the year that are reduced to eight in the winter. It hasn’t been a struggle to get workers since many start as high school students and then return each summer throughout their college years.
Chateauneuf said the anniversary is being marked by doing something special each month, such as fundraiser for the South Hadley hockey team, gift certificates and giveaways and a canned goods collection for Kate’s Kitchen that will also benefit the Holyoke YMCA.
“Sometime this summer we’ll have a celebration,” Chateauneuf said.
Besides the cord that opens the door, another old-fashioned element inside the restaurant is the former jukebox system featuring the Chicago Coin’s Band Box. When the curtain on this small box opens, it reveals animated miniature musicians.
In a landscaping truck parked on a nearby street, two men who grew up in the city have their lunch break.
Kyle Lucchesi of South Hadley said the secret to its success is that Nick’s Nest has good food. “It’s a different hot dog, it’s very good,” Lucchesi said.
“The best around,” said Jamie Oullette of Holyoke. “It’s a different style, but there’s something about the nostalgia that keeps you coming back.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
