ROSSVILLE - Roy's Grill sizzled, flipped and steamed back to life Monday as the iconic Rossville diner began serving burgers, fries and waffles to customers - just as the original Roy did when he opened it in the 1940s.
At 11 a.m., diners ate casually and reminisced about the restaurant's history, but by noon the staff was working feverishly to keep up with the standing-room-only crowd's demand for burgers and chicken salad sandwiches.
"I remember when Roy used to stand right there," said Hearshel Dixon, 74, of Rossville, as he waited for a ham sandwich. "It's a little different, but it looks good."
Chickamauga, Ga., resident Stuart Joyce said that, aside from the flatscreen televisions, the new owners kept alive the spirit of the diner, which seats about 44 customers at a time.
"It looks about like it used to," he said while perusing the new retro-styled menu. "Of course, it's been awhile."
Staff Photo by Allison Carter/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Troy Potter discusses Roy's Grill, the business his family owns, on reopening day. He said onion rings have been the most popular item on the menu.The diner thrived during the 1940s, '50s and '60s, before Roy Lewis died and his family sold it in 1986. A few other owners tried to reopen the diner, most recently in 2007, but the building had fallen into disrepair.
Between bites of her Roy's Burger, Tricia Bowen said she and other locals had high hopes for the reborn restaurant.
"I love it," said Bowen, who worked at the original Roy's during a Christmas break from high school. "You care about your town and about the revitalization, so we want it to do well."
Back in the kitchen, cook Lonnie Scales and assistant Risa Manery chopped onions, monitored the bubbling fries and kept track of the orders, which were queued up seven deep during the lunch rush.
"Medium well is up," Scales barked, sliding a steaming burger and plate through a window to the waitress.
On Monday, biscuits and gravy, waffles, onion rings and, of course, hamburgers were the favorites, he said.
"It's going to take a week or two to work all the kinks out," Scales said.
Troy Potter, whose father, Wayne, had the idea to redo the restaurant, said a new griddle is still on order, and window shades to block the morning sun are on the way.
The restaurant opened to invited guests in a test run over the weekend, and Potter said that gave them an idea of the demand for onion rings and Roy's Burgers.
The Potters bought the building from the city for $50,000 in October, and city leaders, as well as residents, see Roy's reopening as a key to revitalizing downtown.
"We're hoping to be on the ground floor of something new in Rossville," Potter said.