Betty's is back!

Welcome back, Betty.

Or, perhaps the more appropriate statement is welcome to town, Terry, Tonya, Dorothy and Robin Kopp.

After closing in winter 2009, Betty’s Family Dining in Blue Springs quietly celebrated reopening its doors under new ownership on Jan. 25. Located in the Plaza Center strip mall at 15th Street and U.S. 40, the home of the big pork tenderloin – and onion rings – had been a family dining staple for 30 years.

Last summer, Terry had aimed for an August opening date, but holdups occurred with the estate of former owner Ted Starr and building repairs.

“Good, I guess. What else can you say?” Terry said, laughing, about reopening what he called “a legend” last summer. “We didn’t think it’d take this long. The people waited long enough – they were really waiting for it to come back with the food. I think most people are satisfied with what we’re giving.”

The menu remains relatively the same with its Betty’s classics. The majority of the classic darkened wood paneling covers the walls. The original signage also hangs across the facade.
“I always tell people it’s kind of like buying Coca-Cola and then changing it to Joe’s – that would ruin the whole aspect of the business,” Terry said. “It would be like buying McDonald’s and changing the name of it or something. You lose that expose that it’s had for years.”

While the “Betty” element might be missing, the “family” aspect certainly remains in the restaurant’s name. A Lexington, Mo., resident, Terry, 53, works with his wife, Robin, 19-year-old daughter Tonya and his 91-year-old mother, Dorothy. Dorothy continues her half-century career in restaurants.

Carmen and Dean Cox, 30-year residents just south of Blue Springs, and their granddaughter Desiree Huff reconnected with Betty’s on Thursday afternoon. After reading a business column in The Examiner last summer, Carmen and Dean frequently drove by Betty’s intersection to see if it had reopened.

“A tenderloin – did you have to ask?” Carmen said, laughing, about her menu choice. “They always had good onion rings, too.”

“Everyone knows about Betty’s,” Huff said.

Ted Meyer remembers when Betty’s building was built in 1966. Betty’s opened around 1979, but previously, it was a restaurant known as The Pizza Shack, Meyer said.

Now, Meyer and his store employees at Meyer Music just west of Betty’s at 1512 W. U.S. 40 have a place to frequent for lunch and dinner. Prior to having its own building, Meyer Music spent seven years as part of Plaza Center where Betty’s later opened.

There are a few extra touches in the new Betty’s. Old-fashioned soda bottles from the mid-1960s are available for sale. Terry Kopp’s cousin collects and sells “hundreds of thousands” of pop bottle varieties, Terry said. Pickup catering services also are available.