K'Lynn's celebrates nine years of serving Rio Rancho

Karen Johnson-Bey has been in Rio Rancho since 1977, before it was even a city, and for the past nine years, she has been serving up tasty cuisine at K’Lynn’s Southern & Cajun Fusion in the City of Vision.

K’Lynn’s, located at 4300 Ridgecrest Drive SE, Suite O, celebrated its ninth anniversary July 18 with a large crowd of regulars and Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull.

K’Lynn’s opened in 2015 and quickly outgrew its space.

“Let me tell you, I never thought I was going to get this far because I mean, the first year, it was brutal,” Johnson-Bey said. “And all of a sudden, I can't tell you when it happened, it just exploded. I can't explain it other than to say my customers are the greatest.”

Johnson-Bey’s restaurant kept growing to where extra dining space was necessary to accommodate more patrons and equipment. K’Lynn’s expanded in 2019, adding about 1,200 total square feet of dining space.

Then COVID hit.

Johnson-Bey dealt with setback after setback in expanding her restaurant’s dining area because of COVID-19, but K’Lynn’s was finally able to launch that extra space in 2022.

The project to add extra dining space started in December 2019. Everything was set to go at least two weeks before COVID-19 shut down the world in March 2020.

It wasn’t just the expansion that was affected by COVID. K’Lynn’s was hit hard financially as well, like other locally owned eateries. Johnson-Bey had to settle for carryout-only in the early days of the pandemic, then dealt with staffing shortages after indoor dining services were restored.

“There was all kinds of stuff going on here, but that was four years ago. I feel very grateful to still be here,” Johnson-Bey said.

K’Lynn’s is not only still standing, it’s thriving. And it impressed Hull.

“I will say it seems like just yesterday you guys opened this up, and the fact that you've been here for nine years, you're going on a decade of service, is absolutely phenomenal,” Hull said. “I'll take the small, locally owned restaurants over the big chains because you bring a lot of personality and a lot of personal talent and a lot of personal skill to your flavors. And that's what people love about you. So congratulations.”

K’Lynn’s offers unique flavors with a mix of Southern and Cajun cuisines, including fried catfish, collard greens, plantain, etouffee, gumbo and po boys.

Johnson-Bey leaned on her family's Caribbean history and added jerk chicken to the menu as well. K’Lynn’s also offers specialty drinks such as Norma grape ginger ale Kool-Aid or sparkling peach soda and desserts like sweet potato pie.