05/29/2026
Happy Friday fellow FaceBookers!
If you've ever driven by a restaurant that's unexpectedly closed and wondered what's going on inside, there's usually a story behind those doors that most people never get to hear.
During and since our recent closure, the questions have been flying in from customers, friends, family, and fellow business owners wondering what exactly was going on behind our closed doors.
While we reopened Tuesday evening, it's honestly taken me until now to catch my breath, organize everything, and make sure I hadn't missed anything important. Before too much time went by, I wanted to take a moment to share a little of that story and answer some of those questions.
It's a story that Restaurant Owners (and staff) know all too well.
A long time ago, when I first told my accountant I was thinking about taking over a restaurant, she looked at me and said:
“You know how you make a million dollars in the restaurant industry?”
I said, “No, how?”
“You spend two million.”
I laughed.
She laughed.
Then my laughter got a little nervous and shaky.
However … then I did it anyway.
Many of you noticed that WaterWorks was unexpectedly closed for a bit last week. We put out signs, made some posts, and tried to keep everyone updated as best we could, but the truth is, once these projects begin, they tend to take on a life of their own.
What starts as “a couple squishy spots behind the bar” quickly turns into tearing up flooring and realizing the problem underneath is much bigger than anyone expected. What was originally supposed to be a quick repair ended up extending our closure by several days. {That happened to us last fall.}
This time, it was a completely different project that had been carefully planned. The primary goal was accomplished, but like most restaurant closures, it quickly grew into an opportunity to tackle a long list of other repairs and improvements that normally get pushed aside during day-to-day operations.
Some of those projects had been on the list for months. Others became obvious only after we started moving things around and digging into areas that don't normally get much attention.
Once a small restaurant is already closed and things are torn apart, the mindset quickly becomes:
"Well... while we're already in the middle of this chaos, we might as well fix every other thing we possibly can."
That meant finally addressing things like our walk-in cooler floor, along with a variety of other repairs, maintenance projects, cleaning projects, and improvements that are incredibly difficult to tackle while operating a busy restaurant.
The funny thing is, every item you cross off the list, you seem to discover two more. Even now, some of those extra projects are still waiting for us on our days off.
But that's restaurant life.
That's something many people never really see behind the scenes of small independent restaurants.
Customers see a locked door, a dark dining room, maybe an unanswered phone call, and understandably feel disappointed because they were looking forward to dinner.
What they usually don't see are the owners, staff, contractors, family members, and friends physically working inside those walls trying to pull off what often feels impossible in an impossibly short amount of time.
They don't see the emergency repairs.
The equipment failures.
The cleaning, hauling, lifting, patching, painting, troubleshooting, organizing, rebuilding, and last-minute problem solving.
One thing people don't always realize is that in a small restaurant, major projects don't happen because extra people appear to do the work. More often than not, they happen because the same people who cook the food, serve the guests, wash the dishes, manage schedules, and answer phones somehow find the time and energy to tackle those projects too.
They don't see that every extra day we’re closed means staff missing paychecks, bills still piling up, and thousands of dollars continuing to leave the building, while no money is coming in.
And yet, we still do it.
Not because it's easy.
Not because restaurant owners are getting rich.
But because we care deeply about these spaces and the people inside them.
I’ve had a tremendous amount of respect for local restaurant owners for a very long time, even before becoming one myself. Over the years, I've had countless conversations with friends and fellow owners going through the exact same kinds of situations behind the scenes, and every time we go through one of these major repair projects ourselves, it reinforces that respect even more.
Because I know how hard everyone works to make it all look effortless.
And I know that it absolutely is not.
The funny thing is, when a local restaurant suddenly closes for repairs, most other restaurant owners immediately understand exactly what's probably happening behind the scenes.
Because we've all been there.
Something breaks.
Then you discover something else.
Then the repair takes twice as long.
Then you pivot.
Then you keep going because there's no other option.
And somewhere in the middle of the exhaustion and chaos, you try to remember that customers are waiting, staff members are counting on you, and somehow you still need to reopen the doors as quickly as possible.
Tuesday night's reopening honestly felt like a small miracle.
We are incredibly grateful to everyone who showed patience, understanding, encouragement, and support while we worked through all of this, as we had very little time to answer questions or post better progress updates. We're also deeply grateful to the people behind the scenes who showed up to help make it happen, including staff, contractors, friends, and family.
Small businesses are not perfect.
Restaurants certainly are not perfect.
But I can promise you this: Behind these places are people working harder than most will ever know, doing everything they can to keep their restaurants alive, improving, and welcoming for the communities they serve.
And for all of you who continue to support local restaurants through the good days, the chaotic days, and the "well, this repair turned into a much bigger repair" days ...
Thank you all.
We're so very happy to be back.
