About Us

Kelley’s Gourmet

The Howard Kelley Foods Story
There is indeed a Howard Kelley from which our company was founded!!! Years ago in 1939, Howard Kelley was hired as a manager to help develop a newly created family style restaurant by the name of Steak n’ Shake. Howard Kelley spent several years helping the new upstart restaurant chain open new store locations and develop and improve it’s popular menu . However , after several years within the ever-growing Steak n ‘ Shake organization, Howard decided he really wanted to venture out with a restaurant of his own.

Realizing that the food industry held a deep interest and fascination to him, Howard started his own family style restaurant called Howard Kelley Food Shop in 1950. This new restaurant was located in the rapidly growing area of downtown Bloomington , Illinois. With the slogan “Look while we cook,” Howard ‘s popular restaurant , patterned much after Steak n’ Shake, was an instant huge success!!

By now, people throughout the entire Central Illinois area had come to recognize the name Howard Kelley and Howard Kelley Catering to symbolize great tasting and well prepared food. Once again, like with his restaurant , Howard Kelley Catering took off immediately and be came a huge success!! Whenever people have needed great tasting food for any sized gathering within Central Illinois, there has been only one person to call…Howard Kelley Catering.

For close to 50 years, Howard Kelley Foods has been serving people throughout Illinois with some of the finest , tastiest foods and recipes one could imagine. Today, people constantly ask Howard where or how they can obtain his fantastic recipes. In fact, Howard ‘s most re quested recipes are his delicious Sweet & Tangy dressing, his mouth watering Brittany© dressing and his incredible Stoneground mustard.