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RaeZack’s Serves with Gratitude

By Shane Gilreath
[email protected]

“I have always wanted to have a restaurant,” Michelle King said, recalling the lifelong dream that eventually placed her family’s name alongside some of the community’s most endearing institutions – restaurants that have left indelible marks on Scott County. Since it’s founding 12 years ago, RaeZack’s Grill and Deli – owned by King and her husband, Dan, in Helenwood – is spoken of in familiar and affectionate terms. It has become a local fixture, a place where patrons know exactly what they’ll find – down home hospitality and honest, home cooked meals, served by friendly, smiling faces.

Arriving at this juncture, however, was a journey years in the making. As success stories tend to go, it didn’t simply happen overnight. On the contrary, King told SCN she had wanted to be in the food and hospitality industry her entire life. “When I was a little girl, I would play restaurant and be a waitress and take orders from family members,” she said.
That childhood dream eventually sprouted wings, first through a food truck that took the Kings to festivals and events, allowing them to mix with people, network, and grow and learn with their own ambition, and later – through what she described as “blood, sweat, and tears” – the brick-and-mortar restaurant that’s become beloved inside Scott County.
“Me and my family have made a lot of sacrifices for this place,” King said. Despite the long hours and difficult days, the family has no regrets, and they know how the community has blessed them. So, in return, they began to look for ways to show their gratitude. Seven years ago, the plan came in divine fashion. “I was coming out of church,” she said, “and felt led to offer a free, hot Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day. I wanted to offer this to anyone and everyone. I wanted to offer a place to come sit and eat, or to take food home, no matter how many meals they needed.”

For King and her staff, the community had become like family, and in return, they wanted to share the gratitude that defines the Thanksgiving season. It seemed the perfect time – in good times and bad.
“If they had nowhere to go,” she told SCN, “I wanted them to come eat with us.”
The first year, RaeZack’s served 200 meals. Last year, that number reached 954. King hopes 2025 will finally push them over the thousand-meal mark, despite the economic hardships that face the entire country. “Praying this year, we can reach that goal,” she said.
Humble as ever, King is quick to share the credit. Her family, her employees, and many across the community have helped shape the business into what it is today. “RaeZack’s is the best because I have the best,” she said of her staff. “I couldn’t do it without any of them.”
Faith, too, has been a guiding force. Not only did the inspiration for the Thanksgiving meal come as she was leaving church, but King believes her desire to serve is itself a God-given blessing. “I love that He instilled in me the ability to reach so many through food,” she told SCN.
As Thanksgiving fast approaches, for King, it all circles back to love. Love of family. Love of the family she’s built through hard work and perseverance. Love of the community that helped achieve a dream.
“I feel like a full stomach makes the heart happy,” she said. “I know true love from the heart can solve anything and everything, and with love, RaeZack’s serves each and every dish.”