Shortly after Karen and Patrick Hansen opened Nana Gail’s in Hensonville in July 2011, Hurricane Irene hit the Windham area hard.
Luckily, the husband-and-wife duo had a gas stove.
“I opened up for all the locals, because they couldn’t cook or anything,” said Karen Hansen, 68. “I had the gas stove, so I could make egg sandwiches. It was a hard time for everybody with weeks without electricity. Everybody pulled together. They brought their paper plates, they helped clean up the mess.”
The restaurant at 387 state Route 296 was open for just over 10 years before it closed in 2022. It reopened Monday, Nov. 2, bringing the Hansens’ homestyle breakfast and lunch back to the hamlet. Service was in full swing on Tuesday, Nov. 3, as locals poured in for coffee, French toast, and sandwiches.
“It’s wonderful,” said Jim Starr, 78, of Maplecrest, who ordered French toast. “They’re doing great and it’s a weekday.”
Social media drummed up a lot of excitement ahead of the opening, Karen Hansen said.
“They were just thrilled to death,” she said, referencing the response she received when she posted about the reopening on the local Facebook group, Friends of Windham Mountain. “As soon as I posted it, I got responses right away.”
Nana Gail’s is named after the mother of Patrick Hansen, 66. Gail Hansen died in 2009.
“My grandchildren called her Nana Gail,” Karen Hansen said. “She lived up here almost all her life.”
The Hansens, lifelong residents of Windham, live upstairs in the building, which operated as a diner called Country Kitchen before Nana Gail’s opened in 2011. A diner, in some iteration, has existed in the building for at least 50 years, Karen Hansen said.
“I’ve been coming here since I was 19,” Starr said.
After the Hansens retired and closed the restaurant, they leased the building to Ely and Danielle Franko, owners of the nearby boutique hotel The Henson. The Frankos and chefs Jeremiah Stone and Fabian von Hauske opened the luncheonette Day June there in May 2023.
Day June closed temporarily in early 2025 after the restaurant’s chef relocated, The Overlook reported, and it has since closed for good.
The closure prompted Karen Hansen to wonder if she should reopen Nana Gail’s.
“I was thinking, ‘Should I open it again?’” she said. “Everybody was asking me.”
Part of what motivated the Hansens to reopen the restaurant was what they saw as a need in Hensonville and Windham in general. Nana Gail’s is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, offering a spot to grab breakfast or lunch on a weekday when other restaurants in Hensonville are closed. Breakfast and lunch are served all day.
Zack’s Place and Matilda are open only for dinner, while Haymarket Catskills, down the street, is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
“Somebody needs to take care of the locals,” Karen Hansen said. “Nobody’s thinking of the locals. This is why we did it.”
She also envisioned a space where customers can slow down and enjoy a meal without feeling rushed.
“I don’t chase anybody out,” she said. “If you want to sit here and talk for two hours, just move down so the next guy can come in. We’re in no rush.”
Much of the menu is the same as it was at the old Nana Gail’s, she said, with a few minor changes, and she’s open to requests.
“I took off the egg salad sandwich,” she said. “Nobody ever ordered it. But if you want one and I have hard-boiled eggs, I’ll make you one. We’ll do whatever you want, as long as we have the ingredients.”
She said the restaurant is known for its omelets and breakfast burritos, as well as homemade soups like chicken noodle, roasted garlic potato, and French onion.
“A lot of people get soup to go,” she said. “They pop the top on and off they go.”
Karen Hansen said she was also trying to keep prices low. The restaurant’s classic egg sandwich sells for $4.50, while a cup of soup is $3.50. A club sandwich costs $9.95, while wraps and paninis go for $10.95. A cup of coffee costs $2.50.
At nearby Haymarket, prices are higher, with an egg sandwich costing $9. Most of Nana Gail’s hot sandwiches cost around $10, while Haymarket’s hot sandwiches go for around $15.
“I thought, ‘Let me price it so that if I wanted to go out, how much is it going to cost me to go sit down and eat breakfast?’” she said. “It shouldn’t cost you $50, $60. I think we’re reasonable.”
The restaurant runs on a staff of five: the Hansens, Karen Hansen’s two sisters, and a waitress.
Karen Hansen said she was glad to breathe new life into Hensonville.
“We used to have a laundromat, we used to have a store across the street,” she said. “That’s all gone. It’s nice that we’re trying to get something back here in Hensonville.”
“Hopefully it works out great and the people take care of us,” she said.
Photography by Roy Gumpel/The Overlook.
Connor Greco is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Windham, Hunter, and surrounding Greene County communities. Send correspondence to connor@theoverlooknews.com.
