Tricia Lynn has a large family — one that extends beyond her 21 grandchildren.
It encompasses the devoted patrons of The Lazy Lion, her family-owned restaurant, where customers quickly transformed into dear friends and the food became a source of love and inspiration.
She’ll reconnect with many of the people whom she considers family when the restaurant reopens later this fall.
“My biggest thing is it’s a way for me to keep in touch with the members of the community,” said Lynn, who has not yet set an exact reopening date.
For 18 years, she and her two sons ran The Lazy Lion until it closed last October. The Deerfield spot was a hub for lively chatter and the rekindling of friendships, as well as a space to bond over crispy chicken piccata and a pint.
Among other factors, Lynn and her family decided to take a break from the business after the death of her son Jeremy in early 2023. He was a part-owner in the family business.
Lynn and her family took Jeremy’s death and the overall financial struggles of running a restaurant business as a sign to close and focus on healing. But it wasn’t long before the messages asking her to reopen the place started to pour in.
“We kept getting text messages from people in the town,” she said. “‘Will you guys please open?’ ‘This was a great place for our family to come to.’ ‘We missed you guys.’”
She couldn’t even walk to the local convenience store without people asking her about reopening. Lynn previously worked as an educator and as a director for the state prison system. Now retired, she cannot escape the hold that The Lazy Lion has on her heart.
In considering the restaurant’s next chapter, she found herself sitting with her son Joshua and daughter Courtney, now eager to discuss how to elevate the eatery.
“Maybe we can make a go of this again,” she said. “We just need to grow out of what we were in the past to kind of modernize and do some things that are more popular today.
The concept remained unchanged — Lynn wants to keep weekend prime ribs, California burritos and Fish Fridays — but the family will incorporate new menu items such as a classic smash burger and start holding Taco Thursdays.
Not even a day into announcing that The Lazy Lion would be reopening, Lynn was flooded with thousands of “thank you” messages and excited exclamations online and via text.
Community members rejoiced at the news that one of their treasured sanctuaries would be open for business again.
Scott “Scoot” Miller, who first began going to the restaurant about a decade and a half ago, said it feels like the TV show “Cheers.”
“Everybody knows your name, so it’s comforting when you go there. You meet new people every time you go in there, too. Everybody’s just super friendly, and the food staff is great,” he said. “When I heard they were reopening, I was so happy. Not only is it a neighborhood; it’s like a family.”
Lynn recalled the many times people have been pleasantly surprised by the food and atmosphere of her restaurant.
“If I had a dollar for every time somebody said to me, ‘We drove by here for years, and suddenly decided to stop in one day,’ and then said, ‘I can’t believe we didn’t find this years ago, and now this is our favorite place,’ I’d be rich!” She laughed.
Miller described the restaurant as “quaint” and said he appreciates its “relaxing atmosphere.”
“It’s pretty open, so when I’m sitting at the bar and you’re sitting at the table, you can pretty much almost talk,” he said.
The restaurant sits on Route 107, which attracts more passers-by than just the local Deerfield crew. Bike Week, when thousands of motorcyclists from New England and beyond travel to Laconia for nine days of festivities, brings large crowds through the Deerfield area and, consequently, to the Lazy Lion.
Throngs of riders supporting various charitable causes have found themselves enjoying a free buffet breakfast in the sunburnt orange colored eatery.
This act of generosity isn’t the only testament to the strong community The Lazy Lion curates.
“We do a lot of charity events, but we’re most known for our food. Once somebody stops in there and eats, they become a regular,” Lynn said. She recalled how people would joke that this was a place to meet with everybody in the community. If she didn’t see an elderly regular for a few days, she called their house or even visited.
Lynn talks about the restaurant as if it never closed, the present tense rolling off her tongue.
Rather than anticipating future struggles of restaurant ownership, Lynn only had unwavering optimism. For her, as long as her team keeps an eye on the industry and popular demands — and people keep the irresistible chicken wings flying out the door — she trusts matters will run smoothly.
“You don’t fix something that isn’t broken,” Lynn said.
