Anna Hamilton (L) and Kate Keeble were busy working in the kitchen at Hughie’s Taco House last Thursday. Kate and her husband Jeremy recently purchased Hughie’s from Anna and the business will be renamed Hungry Hippie Taco House. The Keebles also own and operate the Hungry Hippie Hostel. Anna owned and operated Hughie’s Taco House for almost 10 years. Before that she and her sister Sarah started and ran My Sister’s Place and she and Sarah currently own Trail Center Lodge and Restaurant.
Kate And Jeremy Keeble, owners of the Hungry Hippie Hostel, recently purchased Hughie’s Taco House, with Kate primarily running the operation. The Cook County News-Herald caught up with Kate for a quick interview.
Kate Keeble and Anna Hamilton, who started Hughie’s Taco House almost 10 years ago, were both moving at a fast rate of speed in the restaurant kitchen last Thursday. It was near lunchtime and the Tex/Mex taco eatery was filling with customers, so Hamilton was teaching Keeble the tricks of the trade.
As they carried on, they were laughing. Hard work doesn’t bother either of these two ladies. In fact, it seems to fuel them.
Trying to catch up with Kate Keeble is like trying to catch up with a sunbeam. Both move fast. And if Kate doesn’t move at the speed of light, she’s just one ticktock off, but just as sunny when caught and can take a minute or two to visit.
Will you change the menu? She was asked.
“We are keeping the fry bread taco! We will probably put our own spin on things, but we are remaining a taco restaurant in northern Minnesota. The goal is to embrace those two things and have fun with it, (think Paul Bunyon and tacos).
“We also want to feature as much Minnesota-grown and produced product as possible. You can’t get any more local than fry bread! And the Minnesota beer scene is amazing! We also want to house smoke the meats for our tacos pulled pork, brisket and a house smoked chorizo would be awesome.”
How about the name? Will you change it?
“Yes. We will eventually be changing the name to Hungry Hippie Tacos. Not sure exactly when that will happen (we are working on our logo right now), hopefully before the end of the summer.”
Will you keep the same schedule for opening and closing?
“We will keep the hours of business, with plans to expand the hours in the future,” Kate said.
Besides some changes to the menu, the look of the restaurant will also be updated and the current staff, as Kate said, “are amazing, and have agreed to stay on board.
“We have new tables for the dinning room on order, a few tables for outside as well, and chalkboards for the menu. We will also put in a counter and bar seating in front of the windows. New signage and maybe a little facelift in the fall. Our goal is to open the side patio by next summer.”
Kate isn’t going into this venture blindly.
“I do have a background in restaurants. I have been working in restaurants since I was 14 (I’ll be 38 in August, so whoa Nelly!). Living in St. Paul and Minneapolis, I had the opportunity to work for some really great chefs and eat amazing food, while working my tail off in restaurants. Jeremy and I have both been managing businesses most of our adult lives, and our love for travel helps inspire new ideas.
“Anna Hamilton has done an amazing job building the business of Hughie’s Tacos! She has a great amount of grit and spunk and has accomplished great things for our community and community members.
“What a treat to get to know her in the process of buying Hughie’s Tacos! She keeps it real, and reminds us every day that we are all human. I hope I can hustle as hard as Anna, and still make time to do good! What a privilege for our family to be able to feed our community and those who come to visit. I can’t think of a better way to spend my days.”
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