STROUDSBURG, Pa. — People enjoyed lunch on Friday at Siamsa Irish Pub on Main Street in Stroudsburg.
By the looks of it, you would never know the bar was flooded only two months ago.
"I am ecstatic that it's fully open," Michael Duffy said. "The upstairs was great, but it's limited. Down here, wide open beautiful bar, and I'm loving it."
A pipe burst on Christmas Eve, forcing owner Doug Gawthrop to close the restaurant.
"We checked the cameras, and it looked like a rain shower in here, just kind of pouring on us, so we came in. There was a lot of damage right away, a lot of damage, deep water in some spots, water all the way to the front door," Gawthrop said.
Gawthrop says the damage extended to both floors of the restaurant.
Halfway through renovating, the upstairs dining room opened on a limited basis while work continued to fix the main dining room and bar.
"We had ceilings that had to be replaced, painting, floors, tile behind the bar, in front of the bar. The hardwood floor needed to be re-sanded and stained. Our upstairs dining room, that floor all had to be replaced. The ceiling in the kitchen, we lost a few pieces of equipment that had to be done. So, electronics had to be redone. Yeah, it was a lot of work to be done in two months," Gawthrop said.
Siamsa had to be closed on New Year's Eve and the Super Bowl, two of the biggest nights of the year for bars. That's why they were determined to be open for St. Patrick's Day.
"This year, we have St. Patrick's Day on Friday and the parade on Sunday, so it's going to be a very busy weekend. There was no doubt in our minds that we were going to be open to that. That's our biggest holiday, obviously, so we worked our butts off to get this done and get ready for that."
The owner says he's excited to welcome everyone back.