HATFIELD — In her dozen years as general manager at Fishtales Bar & Grill, Kerianne Kelliher has emphasized building connections with local farms, ensuring in-season produce is served at the restaurant, alongside the seafood and steaks that is a main draw for diners.

Even throughout the late fall and into early winter, the menus at Fishtales continue to highlight locally grown food, with Mountainside Maple in Hatfield and Barnwood Valley Farms in Hadley listed on a recent menu that also outlined that day’s food and drink specials.

“We’ve developed so many relationships with the farmers in this area who supply us with the vegetables, like the potatoes,” Kelliher says.

Keeping things local, as well as reasonably priced, is one of the continued goals for Kelliher, who now co-owns the Hatfield center restaurant at 5 School St. with business partner Frank DeMarinis, a longtime friend.

In October, Kelliher and DeMarinis acquired Fishtales from Michael and Marilyn Fitzgerald, who are retiring after starting the restaurant in 2008 as an outgrowth of Schermerhorn’s Seafood Restaurant Fish Market and Lobster Pound in Holyoke, taking over a spot previously known as Mama Mia’s.

While entering a new era, Kelliher said there will be minimal changes to the look and feel of the restaurant, or to its menu, with the only adjustment so far being a decision to open on Mondays. The business will continue to employee between 20 and 25 people for the six days it is open each week.

“My hope is to keep it as great as it’s always been,” Kelliher said.

She points to the luncheon specials, with everything priced under $10, including the daily $6.99 fish and chips meal, along with soups, sandwiches and other platters. All lunch-time food is designed to get people in and out quickly so they can get back to work, including the farm workers in town and skilled laborers who drop by, along with a number of retirees.

In the evening, more families come out, and the atmosphere remains relaxed, with an effort that Kelliher describes as trying to bring value to what woFishtales Buld otherwise be luxury dining. Specials on one recent day included seared scallops for $31.99, whole-belly clams for $28.99 and lazy lobster for $38.99, with carrot cake as a dessert special. Each day there is also a specially priced menu item, such as the $10 ribeye and baked potato on Thursdays.

Most of the seafood is brought directly from ships in Boston and Ipswich, with the lobster from Maine, but burgers and pastas are also staples of the menu.

Fishtales has a full bar open throughout the day, with everything from beer and wine to seasonal cocktails. A new outdoor patio, added in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, provides an expanded space for live music every weekend.

Aside from adding Mondays to the schedule, meaning Fishtales is only closed Tuesday, Kelliher is branching out to more catering and more take-out business, including a selection of family-size platters that were available on Christmas Eve.

As important to Kelliher is that Fishtales is a woman-led business. She started as a bartender and then added executive chef to her title in 2021. The sous chefs are Jennifer Duffy and Meaghann O’Neil, who, with Kelliher, combine to have 74 years of experience in the restaurant field.

Kelliher and DeMarinis, who is also the owner and president of Sage Engineering and Contracting in Westfield, acquired both the Fishtales building and the Hatfield Post Office in the real estate deal. DeMarinis has also been a partner in the Log Cabin Delaney House Hospitality Group since 2023

A Cape Cod native, Kelliher moved to western Massachusetts during high school, graduating from Chicopee Comprehensive High School. She worked for the Fitzgerald family at Schermerhorn’s, as well as the Yee family at the Hu Ke Lau restaurant in Chicopee.

“I was taught the work ethic and skills necessary to succeed in this industry,” Kelliher said.

She cites her father spending 54 years in the restaurant business, and her grandfather working for 70 years in restaurants.

“My father has been a huge inspiration for me,” Kelliher said. “He has forever said never settle for less than success, to let your imagination be your guide and none us are perfect but we must keep trying to be.”

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.