Three weeks after the Union Street fire, Jackie O’s Public House is now open on evenings on weekends despite its kitchen closure.
The Public House of Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery opened for limited hours Friday after a portion of the building suffered damage from the Union Street Fire.
The Public House, half of the building, has been closed since the November 16 fire.
For now, The Public House will be open only on weekends from 8 p.m. to close.
"It was so good to be able to pull off events for our Ninth Anniversary Celebration with some sense of normalcy," owner Art Oestrike said.
The BrewPub did not receive significant damage and was opened several days after the fire.
The restaurant is partnering with other local businesses to have a space to prepare food because its kitchen was damaged in the fire.
Not Guilty, a food cart that serves what it calls “innocent, naturally good, comfort foods”, will be allowed to serve items from Jackie O’s menu on Friday, Oestrike said.
“We’ve already done some business with them in the past so we decided since their kitchen is completely destroyed, they could make use of our cart,” said Jay Wamsley, owner of the Not Guilty Food Cart. “It’s a more limited menu, but they are still able to have soups and sandwiches.”
AceNET, an appalachian center that works to promote local food, has allowed Jackie O’s to use some of its storage.
Oestrike said the city and county health departments have approved the temporary use of the Not Guilty food truck on the sidewalk outside the 24 W. Union St. location.
Oestrike compared the process of reopening to preparing for finals week.
"We did all of the work last minute, and we had the final last weekend," he said. "Now we've just got to get back to the daily grind in our new situation."
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