Restaurant Not Yet Open To Public
Starting at 10:00 am, McPhee’s Grill opened its doors for the first time since March 17. However, the doors weren’t open to the public but to serve breakfast to each of the Templeton seniors on the morning of their graduation via a drive-by handoff.
“I think we have been doing it for about eight years now,” Ian McPhee said. “We have been doing it for about eight years, and it is just something that, you know, there are a lot of things that I do because I want kids to remember this town because I worry that some of them are thinking that they live in some little podunk town and they are going to move on to bigger and better things, and they forget their roots.”
The meals were served from 10–11 am and available to any high school senior free of charge. McPhee’s, along with some help from the community, set up two different stations, one out front of the building and one in their parking lot, for kids to pull up and get their meals.
“We have this Templeton community that is so great, and they have supported us for 26 years,” McPhee said. “They have just done so many things for us, so we are happy to do these things.”
While the meals were already paid for, that didn’t stop a couple of friendly and generous people from offering to pay for a couple of meals themselves. McPhee’s Grill has been making breakfast for Templeton seniors for nearly a decade but has also been serving the Eagles football team lunch before home games for 20 years.
“I know that these seniors look forward to this because whenever the kids come through, they are always saying ‘Oh we’re so glad we are seniors now,’ so that is it too,” McPhee said through a smile. “We see drive-bys for everything else as far as barbeques and all that so the parents and I got together, and I said I was willing if they were willing and they were, and here we are.”
The kids were served up a savory bacon and spinach baked bread pudding along with some strawberries, a blueberry muffin, and water, wrapped up in a to-go box.
Several passerby’s poked their head into the restaurant, hoping they might be able to get a table for lunch, but according to McPhee, they are still about a month away from opening their doors.
The popular North County restaurant is currently waiting on some safety items such as plexiglass to put between their booths before it makes sense for them to open but are eager to begin serving the public and are taking the necessary steps to serve the community safely.
“We are following all the prescribed methods that the health department has told us to do,” McPhee said regarding COVID-19 restrictions and rules. “That is going to be a big thing in our business, and there is no shunning it or getting around it. Of course, I don’t want customers to have to come in here and get served with masked waiters and all that, but it is what it is.”
