MIDDLEBURG, Fla — It's a new year and a new start for a beloved local restaurant.
Nearly a year after a fire ravaged their Middleburg location, Grumpy's restaurant on Blanding Boulevard has a reopening date: Monday.
The reopening is coming with a hefty price tag. Owner Dell Hoard, senior, says it cost more to rebuild than to initially open.
"The cost of everything has doubled," Hoard said. "It's significantly more expensive to rebuild our place than it was to build it originally."
Grumpy's on Blanding Boulevard was only open for one year before catching fire in January. It's been closed ever since, but now the company is starting the new year on the right foot. A fourth Grumpy's restaurant is set to open in May in the Wildlight community in Nassau County.
Hoard says supply chain problems caused a delay in reopening and they had to wait several months for appliances to be delivered. Inside the rebuilt restaurant, they say you'll notice only minor changes and some changes were made to make operations easier for employees.
They're reopening with 85 percent of their employees, many of whom worked at other Grumpy's restaurant locations this past year.
"We have such a family atmosphere amongst our employees and our restaurant patrons that come in," Hoard said. "We see a lot of them everyday."
Grumpy's is open from 5:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.