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The
Ample Pantry --
A Kalamazoo Tradition
Since 1982, The Ample Pantry has delivered delicious
home-cooked lunches and dinners to busy families and businesses in
Kalamazoo, Portage and the surrounding communities.
History
Family owned and operated, The Ample Pantry was founded
by Phyllis Farrell in June of 1982. As a working wife and mother, Phyllis
Farrell knew the challenge of preparing a healthy home- cooked dinner for
her family each evening. A brainstorm for providing wholesome
evening meals to other busy Kalamazoo & Portage area families has
translated into a unique & successful business, The Ample Pantry, a
delivery service of hearty home-style
A long career in food marketing and sales prepared
Farrell for the business. While raising four children, and working a
job that required some travel, Farrell always made certain her family ate
right. “If I was going to be gone for any length of time, I was up
the night before preparing food for them,” she recalled.
After some research, Farrell concluded that no one had
ever tried a delivery service of quality meals before. “Domino’s
was having great success with pizza, I figured someone could do the same
with good homemade food,” she said.
The idea simmered in her mind for nearly 10 years.
One day she found she was unemployed and decided this was the time to try
it. Farrell set about planning the menus, with the primary
ingredient being simplicity. Quality delivered food, at a modest
price has since become the hallmark of The Ample Pantry. The menu
has not changed significantly since the service began in June of 1982.
Wholesome family favorites like meatloaf, turkey divan, and baked
spaghetti are typical. “We try not to make any statements about
our cooking,” said Farrell. “We don’t claim to be gourmet
chefs. Our recipes are simple using fresh, quality ingredients.
The idea is we do the cooking so you don’t have to.”
Ample Pantry dinner baskets are delivered to the customer’s door,
with each meal packaged in oven board containers. The food arrives
fully cooked, but cool, with instructions for warming in a microwave or
conventional oven.
Soon after starting business, The Ample Pantry began
getting requests from customers for lunch deliveries. A year and a
half later, Phyllis took up the lunch challenge. The Ample Pantry
now delivers lunch to area homes and businesses for six or more people
with one day’s notice. The business has also expanded into our
extensive take-out business, where people can just stop by and pick-up
salads, soups, entrees, desserts and more.
The daily operation of the business is now handled by
Phyllis Farrell’s son Bill Farrell
and daughter Anne
Farrell-Bridenstine. You will still occasionally find Phyllis in the
kitchen, behind the register, or on the phone, lending a helping hand.
The Ample
Pantry
is conveniently located at
4325 W. Michigan Ave. between
Drake & Howard
Call #375-8300 to place your order
or just stop in
to pick up a fresh, home-cooked lunch or dinner today!
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