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Date: 2/8/2023
BELCHERTOWN – Leena’s Place’s grand opening took place on Jan. 8 and has added plenty of food and drink options for people in town along with a place to enjoy cultural experiences, cuisine and fun activities.
Owner Jessica Morehouse said that her dream of owning a restaurant since she was a kid has come true and that business has been going great since she opened.
Business has been so busy that Morehouse has recently changed the hours of operation.
The restaurant was originally set to be open seven days a week but now will be temporarily closed Mondays until the spring to give the staff a day to relax.
Leena’s Place is currently open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to midnight.
“We are still trying to figure out what the best hours are going to be for the area and winter months but will be open seven days again come springtime,” Morehouse added.
The restaurant has also started offering a breakfast/brunch on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. “to bring in more customers, but we also offer our lunch and dinner menu and stay open all day,” Morehouse said.
State Sen. Jake Oliveira and state Rep. Aaron Saunders joined Morehouse on Jan. 27 to hand out citations to commemorate the occasion and encourage everyone to check out Leena’s Place.
Leena’s Place, which is located at Cold Spring Country Club, 330 Chauncey Walker St. offers live music, dance classes and other events to have fun with the community paired with a food and drink menu.
“We wanted to give the public something to look forward to. There isn’t much in Belchertown. When I posted on the Facebook public forum, people seemed interested and wrote a lot of things they would like to see happen and tried to incorporate that,” Morehouse said.
Morehouse said the restaurant started a special menu that includes different international cuisines. For two weeks they will have specials listed that are associated with a certain nationality and include specialty nights to pair with the food.
For the past two weeks, the restaurant has been focused on Latin cuisine which ended on Feb. 5 and, at that point, for two weeks it will feature Jamaican food.
“We wanted to make the community feel more welcomed instead of having only one nationality of food available. We have had salsa nights and a Latin DJ to encourage international entertainment to pair with the food,” Morehouse said.
Jamaican, Mexican, Indian, Italian, American and barbeque are other cuisines that Morehouse said she would like to explore.
Morehouse added, “We had an amazing turnout on our first Latin night with capacity reached at almost 150 people. It was very exciting to see how many people were interested in coming out to salsa dance. Our goal is to bring unique and different entertainment into Belchertown.”
The entertainment nights have been a huge success according to Morehouse.
She said, “Having entertainment has brought in a lot of people. It seems that the community is interested in that area.”
Morehouse said those interested should follow Leena’s Place Facebook page to stay up to date with weekly events and the international cuisine tour that changes every two weeks.
Some of the events include line dancing, karaoke, sip and paint and more salsa nights and special deals for the Super Bowl.
Leena’s Place is open on Super Bowl Sunday and will offer a special that day for the big game.
In addition, Morehouse is still operating her bartending and catering company for private events so people can feel free to reach out if they’re interested in booking a private party as well.
“We can’t wait to open the patio this summer as we’re going to have entertainment outside. We’re just waiting for some warmer weather,” Morehouse added.