Our Story
From a Chicago Kitchen to Tampa's Table
Before Kay's Kitchen, Ms. Kay worked as an insurance coordinator at a prestigious corporate company. She walked away from that career on pure faith to start something of her own, with zero food service experience and a recipe she brought straight from Chicago's South Side. In 2017, she launched a small red food trailer. Within months she had outgrown it and moved into a white food truck, then a pickup window on 34th and Osborne by 2018.
By August 2019, Ms. Kay had expanded into a 2,200 sq. ft. brick and mortar on 30th Street near Busch Gardens. When COVID hit and people could not come inside to eat, she installed a walk-up window and kept right on serving. She never closed. When market prices for chicken tripled, Ms. Kay took some time, regrouped, and had a food truck built. She served out of that truck for eight months before moving to 78th Street for two months, then landing at her current Causeway Blvd location in March 2023.
In 2024 she opened a second location with a food truck in Ruskin, Florida. When Hurricane Helene struck that September, two feet of floodwater filled the truck and cost her nearly $20,000 in lost revenue. She came back anyway. That same drive led to the Bearss Ave location, a full-service restaurant built for the loyal customers driving in from Wesley Chapel, New Tampa, and across the Bay. Today, Kay's Kitchen is a pillar in every community it serves, and Ms. Kay is already working with her financial team on the next chapter: franchising.
“It has a distinct taste. It's Ms. Kay's. Nobody in Tampa is cooking like Ms. Kay's.”
— Ms. Kay Lee, Owner & Founder
