Longtime Rexall Grill patron Ron Johnson plops down in his chair and surveys the Duluth restaurant. He takes in the familiar Coca-Cola decor, breakfast menu and local clientele. Then he motions to a waitress.
"Bring me my usual and my stuff," Johnson, 74, of Cornelia told her.
His usual: two scrambled eggs, two biscuits and grits. His stuff: cinnamon, honey and ginger with his name scrawled in ink on the containers.
Originally opened in 1968, Rexall Grill was back in business Tuesday morning, and regular customers like Johnson poured into the Buford Highway establishment to eat, mingle and catch up.
"Everybody's glad it's back open," said Johnson, who has frequented the landmark diner for the past 30 years. "The old people didn't have a place to eat."
Tuesday's reopening comes more than a month after the Georgia Department of Revenue shuttered the perennial gathering spot in this Gwinnett County community. According to state regulators, restaurant operator Gail Herrin owed $500,336.60 in sales taxes and penalties. An auction of items belonging to Herrin was July 6.
Lynda Alley, who has owned the building, the name and most of the equipment since 1998, has taken over operations. She has spent the past few weeks obtaining a business license, installing a grease pit, applying a fresh coat of paint and cleaning the place from top to bottom.
"We cleaned everything, even the wallpaper," said Alley, adding that she shelled out $69,000 to spruce it up.
She plans to have a grand reopening Saturday and will offer patrons a free piece of homemade cake.
"It's going to be about the cook and people who come here that will make it," Alley said matter-of-factly.
New manager Danny Sexton, 28, has worked at the grill since he was 10 years old. He said little will change, including the menu and staff, now that he's in charge. That's not the case for the handling of finances, he said.
"It's going to be run differently," said Sexton, noting that accountants will deal with the books. Sexton is Herrin's nephew, but he stressed he didn't know his aunt was in trouble. No one knew, he said.
Four days a week for the past 32 years, Jack Lynn of Buford has started his day at the diner. Typically, he walks in about 7:30 a.m. and joins a group of up to 20 other men for breakfast.
They talk politics, local events and sports. They call themselves the Liars Club because of their penchant to stretch the truth, he said.
"One day, I told [the staff] their service was lousy," the 58-year-old chuckled. "I was kidding, but I brought in a cowbell and rang it. It's just clean fun."
On June 23, the day Rexall Grill was shuttered, Lynn came by and saw the sign posted on the front door.
"It was kind of a devastating feeling," he said. "We felt really strongly for them. But we looked at it for selfish reasons, too. We thought: What are we going to do?"
For the next few weeks, the Liars Club met at a restaurant next door. They returned to Rexall on Tuesday morning, laughing and poking fun at one another. They even poked fun at the servers.
"It means a lot to me to be here," Lynn said. "This is a major part of someone's life: a smile, a laugh."
Jim and Nan Smith of Norcross have dined at the restaurant two to three times a month for the past eight years.
"We had to come back and support it," Nan Smith said. "They've just got the best people. It's home. It's just home."
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
