ASHTABULA, Ohio — Not even two months after a car came crashing into their building and sparked a fire, The Crow's Nest is back open.
Customers quickly filed in Thursday morning as the restaurant held a soft re-opening.
"It was gutted," owner RJ Detore said. "Four new air conditioners, two new furnaces, a giant new water tank, all new HVAC lines, new carpet, new ceiling. Everything is brand new."
Back on April 10, police say a car slammed into the restaurant at around 3 a.m., killing the driver and sparking a fire that forced the business to close.
The crash killed 52-year-old John Yerkey of Salem, Ohio, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Watch that original story here:
RELATED: 1 dead after vehicle crashes into Ashtabula restaurant
The Crow's Nest opened back in 1992.
The Detore family credits many of their customers for helping work around the clock to reopen the restaurant.
"We have everybody that comes here — we know them all," Ron DeTore said.
News 5 was there in May, as many of those contractors were coordinating to repair the building.
Watch that story here:
RELATED: Ashtabula's Crow's Nest aims to reopen in about two weeks following car crash and fire
"I pushed off two other good sized jobs to take care of the Crow's Nest because it's the Crow's Nest," contractor Mike Atzemis said. "It's a staple of the community, you have to take care of the Crow's Nest because they take care of a lot of people."
Thursday's opening is a soft opening. A grand reopening celebration is set for Saturday, June 13, with a T-shirt giveaway.
"I'm so happy to be back, I can't believe we did it this quickly," head waitress Tawnya Housel said.
"It means our life back," Nick Detore said. "We're back."
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
