POQUOSON, Va. (WAVY) — Good news for seafood fans on the Peninsula, Surf Rider is reopening Monday in Poquoson after a fire destroyed the popular restaurant last year.
No one was hurt in the fire last June, but it destroyed the building and left dozens of people unemployed.
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Crews have been working for months now to get the restaurant back up and running.
Last week, the restaurant posted these pictures on Facebook with the caption “we are almost ready for you.”
Doors officially opened at 11 a.m. Monday
The walls inside of the new restaurant are a reminder of what the restaurant employees went through, and how they’ve bounced back.
10 On Your Side has followed the restaurant’s journey to rebuild.
“We put a lot of heart into rebuilding the restaurant. It was pretty fast, but eight months was a long time for all of us,” said general manager Brandi Timmons.
Timmons says it was the support from the community that pushed them to reopen quickly.
“Just the City of Poquoson all together, all the support we got through social media, Facebook. We took a lot of pride because we were missed and we saw that, so that gave us the initiative to get this done quicker,” said Timmons.
Scott Paxton is a regular at the restaurant.
“I’ve been coming to this restaurant for a long time,” said Paxton.
Employees made sure he had an extra special welcoming back in.
“They brought me in the side door,” said Paxton.
He sat down with his family and ordered one of his favorites, flounder.
And he had a pretty nice view.
“The windows are lower, bigger, so you have a whole view of the water. It’s beautiful,” said Timmons.
She says now that they are back open, people have their jobs back, too.
She says the employees and the customers are like a big family.
