MAUMEE, Ohio — A popular Maumee restaurant welcomed back customers for the first time Tuesday in nearly six months.
Smoke caused extensive damage to the Briarfield Cafe after a fire last September. Owner David Katafiasz said he is blown away by the community response
"Working it for 15 years," he said; "You never realized the impact that you had until something like this happened."
He said he was surprised to see customers waiting at the door 15 minutes before opening Tuesday morning.
"My coworkers and I have been counting the days," regular customer Kelly Kenneman said. "We've been driving by looking at the blinds seeing if it is open."
Katafiasz said the whole shop had to be renovated. The fire left soot on all of the walls and ruined most of their equipment and infrastructure.
After months of work, he added that the community's strong support all of this time and into Tuesday made it all worth it.
"Calling me at home. When are we going to open up, when are we going to open up," he said. "That's been going on for five and a half months and it's just overwhelming the response we got from our customers."
Customers stressed the small restaurant has such a homey feel.
"It's family," Kenneman said. "I mean you walk in everyone is smiling, the prices are good, the food is awesome."
Customers are thrilled to once again pick up some of their favorites like the turkey Reuben sandwich and a veggie omelet.
"Our Briarfield salad, everyone misses that," Katafiasz said. "And everyone misses our homemade chips."
The owner said he is grateful to his 22 faithful employees who all returned after months of waiting.
The restaurant is back to normal business hours with take out available. It will resume delivery next week.