This weekend Rodie’s Place, which is located on A1A in the Hammock, is celebrating their four year anniversary. They are offering a weekend of fun, music, giveaways, raffles and other thank you items to the community that has helped them grow their business as well as give back to the community.
We sat down with Owner Randy Odom, and General Manager Tammy Kelly to hear what they had to say about the business, the celebrations and their journey from opening the doors to now.
Randy talked about how he got started with Rodie’s Place. “I always had a thing about wanting to have a little restaurant; I was a 28 year executive at IBM, took an early retirement and started my own business and I did that. I live on the intracoastal over here and I’m a member of the Hammock Beach and I said, ‘You know what would be fun for my next venture? Buy this little two bedroom house and turn it into a little local small breakfast and lunch place.’ There’s nothing like that around here, and just have a place for the locals to come have lunch and socialize,” said Randy.
Randy and I talked about how when Covid hit in 2020, Rodie’s Place had only been open about 8 months. Randy talked about how the owner of the property did not charge him for rent during the Covid lockdown. He talked about how it was just him and a cook in the back. Because he was up front and still doing take out orders, people were talking about Rodie’s Place, because it was one way to get food during the lockdown. Rodie’s also started doing the take home meals, which helped them get through the first 6 weeks. They made enough to pay the bills and stay afloat and after that initial six weeks, they were able to start bringing business back.
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We talked about how business has been since Covid. “It’s been phenomenal. We have good food, a great environment and a great atmosphere, according to what people tell me,” says Randy Odom. Rodie’s Place has grown and expanded, “We’ve rolled in the dinner concept in early 2022. That is part of the growth since Covid,” says General Manager Tammy Kelly.
Of course we had to ask what the best part of owning Rodie’s Place is. “It’s having those conversations, and getting that type of feedback, that’s the best part,” says Randy. Tammy told us, “Definitely the socialization, you get to see everybody, aside from the food which is really good too, the socialization is great. The food is good to the point where you are proud to be representing it.” Randy and Tammy talk about how Rodie’s Place and its customers are like family, hugs are common place, and it is just a fun family friendly place to hang out.
We asked Tammy and Randy what some of the more challenging aspects are of the restaurant. They both agreed that the staffing aspect is the hardest. The staff is wonderful, but when things happen, and people have to be off, it can be hard to scramble to cover as a small business. It is hard to cover shifts when life happens, because they are small and have a limited staff.
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Randy and Tammy love giving back to the community, they host fundraisers, and participate in many community events including an annual one with Christmas Come True. They raised $14,000 for domestic violence for Flagler County, they fundraise for the Krewe of the 13, and for Gratitude America, to name a few. Tammy came up with the ‘Thank you’ cards for the regulars who come, to get a free glass of wine with an entree purchase. They also will be giving out raffle tickets to the event, for giveaways and other fun merchandise that will be available over the weekend.
