Creswell Restaurant Reopening After Fire

CRESWELL, Ore. Word is quickly spreading around Creswell that the bar at TJs is back open after a fire shut down the business for the last four months. In just a few weeks, the restaurant will be serving its popular dishes in the newly remodeled dining room.

From a pile of ashes to a brand new bar, thereve been a lot of changes at TJs Restaurant during the past four months. When the fire hit us it totally destroyed the entire contents. So we went all the way back to the studs an so everything you see here is brand new, said Tom Nelson, TJs Restaurant owner.

Investigators originally estimated it would cost around $300,000 to repair the restaurant, but the smoke damaged all of the equipment so badly that everything had to be replaced. Now were in at a little over $800,000 and that will go higher probably closer to $900,000 when its all said and done, said Nelson.

While the bar stools sat empty on this Easter Sunday, theyve been full of customers old and new during the past few days. All of our business has come back and in addition to that weve picked up some new younger clientele because the bar now is so much for older citizens, but for younger citizens in the community as well, said Nelson.

With a new color scheme and more TVs, the changes to the bar are apparent. Theyll also be obvious once the restaurant construction is complete. We have 130 items on the menu, but we wanted to add a few dinner menu items which weve done. Were not changing the menu pricing. Were not changing the existing items, were just adding to it, said Nelson.

But while the spot pretty much has a whole new look, the owner said people who crave a late night breakfast can still find their favorite dishes on the menu at any time of the day. So we want our community to know that were going to be right back where we were before the fire occurred, said Nelson.

Nelson said his goal was to be up and running at the beginning of May because just under half of their business comes from people driving through the area during the summer.

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Creswell Restaurant Reopening After Fire