Burnt restaurants making comebacks

ESCONDIDO Two Escondido restaurants destroyed by fire in October 2012 are making comebacks.

Spires reopened Dec. 9 as J & M's Family Restaurant in the Vallarta Plaza, and construction crews broke ground Dec. 30 on a rebuild of the McDonald's at Ash Street and Valley Parkway. City officials say the new McDonald's is expected to open in late April.

Joe Goncalves, who ran Spires from the day it opened in 1987 until the fire 15 months ago, said Thursday that he's gotten an overwhelming response to the new restaurant.

"It's been crazy," he said, noting that many loyal customers laid flowers and plants outside to welcome him back. "I brought most of the workers back, which has helped."

Goncalves said the new restaurant is more modern and larger, with 166 seats instead of the 150 at Spires.

Construction was delayed several months, he said, when federal officials raised concerns about the restaurant's presence in a flood plain.

"We had to take the whole foundation out and start over," he said.

Goncalves said the two restaurants and a Walmart grocery store expected to open Jan. 29 will bring new momentum to Escondido's East Valley. The 45,000-square-foot grocery store will be a companion to a 96,000 Walmart general merchandise store that opened last September.

City officials said the McDonald's has been delayed by approvals needed from the state Department of Transportation, which is involved because Ash Street is officially designated as state Route 78 near the restaurant.

Many local residents were saddened when fire destroyed the restaurant, which was inland North Countys first McDonalds when it opened in 1964.

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Burnt restaurants making comebacks