SOUTH HADLEY — After years of honoring founder Johnny Yee, the restaurant-owning Yee family is naming the next location in honor of their matriarch.
Nate Yee, director of operations for Bean Restaurant Group, said it was time to name a location, Linda’s Italian Kitchen, after his grandmother Linda Yee, 88.
The Yee family plan to open a 50-seat restaurant at the South Hadley Village Common that will serve Italian-American dishes, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. The restaurant is named after the Yee family matriarch, Linda. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
“She’s done so much. It’s time to give her her little space in the sun,” he said. “She’ll love it.”
Linda’s Italian Kitchen will be around a 50-seat Italian and Italian American restaurant in The Village Commons in South Hadley.
The plan is to open in October or early November, Yee said.
It’ll be the family’s 12th restaurant, not counting The Fort’s location at The Big E. They already have three within the boundaries of The Village Commons alone: Johnny’s Bar and Grill, Iya Sushi & Noodle Kitchen and Johnny’s Tap Room.
An Italian restaurant made sense, Nate Yee said. It’s not a cuisine in the family’s current portfolio and its popular.
“We are going to have homemade pasta that we’ll cut in house every day,” he said.
Another new location with an Italian theme is planned for early 2027, Nate Yee added.
Little Petroni’s will be landing on University Drive in Amherst with Neapolitan pizza and Italian American favorites, Yee said.
It’s named after a racehorse Johnny Yee owned.
The late Jung Tai “Johnny” Yee opened the famous Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee in 1965.
The family closed the restaurant in 2018.
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Dining and Cooking