PARRSBORO, N.S. – After the Glooscap restaurant was levelled by fire, it took less than 10 months for it to open its doors again.
“We never thought it would happen this quick. We thought it would take at least a year,” Amber Fisher said.
Amber, along with her husband Mike, own and operate the Glooscap Family Restaurant & Lounge in Parrsboro.
Built in 1980 and opened in 1981, the restaurant burned to the ground on Dec. 11, 2018.
On Oct. 1, 2019, at 11:30 a.m., customers flowed through the restaurant doors once again.
Mike says it was great to see them.
“They’re just like family. You miss seeing them for nine months and when they come through the door everybody is huggy, huggy saying, “We missed you, we missed you.” That’s the most exciting part.”
He says they were anxious on opening day.
“There was anxiety, there was excitement, there was nervousness, all of the above.”
We were so used to it. It was like home, but we love the new one too.
The new restaurant comes with a much different floor plan than the old one.
“It’s more energy-efficient and the layout is an all-open concept,” Amber said.
The Fishers are still getting used to the new concept.
“Getting a plan for a new building was the hardest part because it’s not something I ever dreamt I’d have to do,” Amber said. “I loved the old building, but everything’s worked out.”
Mike misses the old restaurant as well.
“We were so used to it. It was like home, but we love the new one too.”
The Fishers had insurance on the old restaurant, which helped pay for the rebuild.
“Even the insurance company was surprised that we were ready to go so quick,” Amber said.
There’s still work to be done on details in the restaurant, and they hope to have a grand opening once everything is complete.
“We’re missing our booths now and our proper bar stool's, and people need to get used to menu and seating, so we plan to have our grand opening about a month down the road,” Amber said.
The menu items are the same, including their most popular dishes.
“The turkey dinner, the fish and chips and the home-baked desserts are always really popular,” Amber said.
The Glooscap restaurant is a big employer in the Parrsboro area. They currently employ 13 people and they plan to hire a few more in the coming months.
“The staff was another big reason we wanted to build a new restaurant. This is their livelihood,” Amber said.
They are very grateful to family and friends who helped out.
“We had a lot of people who said things like, ‘why don’t you take this and use this for the bar top,’” Mike said.
“It was the same with the mantle for the fireplace,” Amber added. “People made donations and said, “Here, have you got a use for this.’”
They are also thrilled with the contractors who did the work.
“We’re proud of all the people who participated in the rebuild, right from the ground, right to the shingles,” Mike said.
They thank everybody who supported them over the past 10 months.
“It’s a huge heartfelt thank you,” Amber said “There were fundraisers, cards, calls, donations. It’s been overwhelming, which gave us the incentive to pull through and re-open quicker than most people thought we would have.”
