KINGSLEY -- Back in November of 2014, fire destroyed a landmark restaurant in Susquehanna County and on Tuesday Jenny Leigh's Country Cookin' reopened.
The lunch crowd at Jenny Leigh's Country Cookin' brought an appetite for something not exactly on the menu.
The familiar faces and friendly reputation that went away in November of 2014 when the business on Route 11 in Kingsley was destroyed in a massive fire. The faithful were left to wait while the owner vowed to return.
"It was a meeting place where you meet all your friends from the community when that restaurant burnt down, we were brokenhearted here," said Frank Cerynik of Lenox.
Customers weren't alone. Ashley Warren had worked at the restaurant since she was 17 years old and considers it her second home.
"I just wanted to hug everyone I saw this morning. I was like, 'Oh! It’s nice to have everybody back,'" she said.
It certainly wasn’t easy. After the hiatus and hard work to retrofit the former Aqua Inn to a restaurant, both customers and employees said it feels good to be back.
"The restaurant means a lot everybody was waiting for this to open again," said Debbie Cerynik of Lenox.
There's a good chance the restaurant means more to Jenny Payne than anyone else and she made good on her promise to come back.
"The people need a place to go. They’ve been harassing me since the fire, when are you going to open?" she said. "It’s right back to normal, same people, and it’s so nice to see them all, they came back."
