Sizzling, home-cooked meals made from the freshest ingredients aren’t the only thing on Kevin Whiting’s plate these days.

If you look (and listen) closely, you’ll notice ample helpings of uncertainty, responsibility, duty and obligation. These are heavy emotions for sure, but they come with the territory when you’re at the helm of a place that means so much to so many.

Whiting and his wife Toni own and operate the iconic Round’s Restaurant on Eighth Street in Traverse City. As the city has grown and changed over the years, Round's and its midcentury flair have been a familiar, comfortable constant and a true breakfast staple on the city's east side. 

Kevin and Toni, who bought the restaurant from Toni’s parents about 30 years ago, are fielding more and more questions about what happens next.

“Now that we’re getting old, I can’t tell you how many people have said ‘Well, what are you going to do? Is Round's going to still be here?'" Kevin tells The Ticker. “When the restaurant’s been serving food in one way or another for 76 years, people are attached.”

The problem is that Kevin and Toni are hungry for retirement, but their kids aren’t interested in taking over. This means they don’t have a clear plan for the future of Round's, even if they know their days behind the counter are numbered.

“I’ve had plenty of people say ‘You can’t let it go, you have to keep it going,'" Kevin says. "But I’m not going to do this when I’m 80."

They have about an acre of property between Round's, the neighboring buildings and associated parking lots. So there has been and will continue to be plenty of interest from developers. But the Whitings have a deep desire to see the restaurant continue.

“We’re trying to find a way that we can sell Round's and have it still exist,” Kevin says. “And it might be a big financial loss for us, but we’re trying to figure out how do to it. We’re willing to be flexible in order to make it work.”

This desire is a direct result of seeing the restaurant’s place in the community. Kevin got choked up as he described his customers, which he and Toni repeatedly say are the best part of the business.

“I have customers that come in right now that say their great-grandfather or their grandfather brought them here, and they’re still coming in,” Kevin says. “And we’re a community hub for a lot of people, especially early in the morning. A lot of people who don’t have anybody else to talk to or don’t have a lot of family around come in here.”

But what good are great vibes without great food? The Whitings also lean into quality, carefully sourced ingredients, something they believe has contributed to their popularity over the years.

“We use fresh potatoes straight from the farm in Kalkaska, we boil ‘em, chop ‘em and grill ‘em – we don’t use frozen hash browns. We buy the best possible bacon we can, with an extra thick cut. Our sausage comes over from Wisconsin; it’s a better flavor,” Kevin says. “And people notice (our ingredients); they comment on it. If I change something, I hear about it.”

Vibes and food aside, times are tough for small, independent restaurants like Round's. Serious cost increases – especially when you’re dedicated to quality – hit hard and force price increases for customers.

“We cringe every time we do it, because a lot of our customers are on some sort of fixed income at this point. I've even had customers that apologized because they can't come in as often as they used to. They just can't afford it,” Kevin says. “I hate raising our costs even a dime at a time, but we have to keep the doors open.”

And, like seemingly everyone else, they’re struggling to find and keep staff.

“Back in the day, we would put an ad in the paper for a cook, and we'd have 20 people apply,” Kevin says. “Now you can run an ad constantly in whatever program or format you want, and you get nobody.”

He attributes this in part to Traverse City’s explosive growth leaving few places for real, working-class people to live. In his neighborhood, he says, only one of six homes that recently sold went to a family – the rest went to retirees. It’s not a sustainable situation.

“Part of Traverse City's problem is the fact that we're very good at advertising ourselves, and our growth has outperformed our ability to keep up with it. And when you're in business, normally it’s a great thing that everybody's coming in and all that sort of stuff,” he says. “But if you can't get the people in to work, it's a (huge problem).”

But the Whitings will soldier on for the time being, hoping that the right buyer is out there. Developers looking for the land alone need not apply.

“We can cash out and never worry about life again, and it would be just fine. But we want Round's to exist, and we want people to come in and do everything they've been doing for years,” Kevin says. “So we're still here. We're still doing it. And hopefully – eventually – we'll find somebody to take over who has the same passion to run it that we've had.”