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New Joe's rises from ashes
By SUZANNAH GONZALES INVERNESS -- For Joe Kozevski, the holidays were good. But different. For the past eight years, Kozevski has owned Joe's Family Restaurant on West Main Street. He has always been at work on Thanksgiving and Christmas, serving holiday meals to people who had nowhere else to go or just wanted to let someone else prepare the food on those special days. For Christmas, one customer used to dress up as Santa and distribute candy to other customers. "That was nice, but not this year," Kozevski said. "Maybe next year." He spent Thanksgiving and Christmas 2002 at his daughter's house in Inverness. Just two days before Thanksgiving, a fire broke out at Joe's. The restaurant has been closed since, putting about 40 people out of work and forcing several regulars out of their daily routines. Some came in twice a day. "They all ask the same question: When are we going to open again?" Kozevski said. It won't be long now. He's aiming to reopen at 6 a.m. Monday. When the doors open, customers will see a brand-new interior. New chairs, new ceiling, newly varnished wood, new double doors to the kitchen and a new wall between the kitchen and dining room. And this time around, the restaurant will be nonsmoking. So far, $70,000 worth of repair work, paid for by insurance, has been completed. Every day since the fire, workers have been making improvements, including some customers won't see, such as the cement inside the wall separating the dining room and kitchen. "So it (a fire) would never happen again," Kozevski said. The November blaze started inside the wall, which had the most damage, and spread to the attic. Officials said the fire's most probable cause was electrical. Some things about Joe's will remain the same, such as the the floor tiles and, most important, the menu and prices. "Most of them (customers) know I don't change much," Kozevski said. Kozevski said he has missed the restaurant and his customers. "You meet a lot of people," he said. "Every day you see people." -- Suzannah Gonzales can be reached at 860-7312 or sgonzales@sptimes.com.
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