Larry’s P.X. To Reopen Sept. 17

CHATHAM – The counters are new, as are the tables. The colors are a bit different. There’s a new computerized ordering system, and some of the kitchen equipment has been replaced.

 But the photos are still there, as are the old, folksy signs. It’s still the same Larry’s P.X.

 After being closed since Nov. 27, when a car drove through the front entrance, the popular West Chatham breakfast and lunch restaurant is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

 “We’re excited about it,” said owner Jay Case. He was busy this week ordering food, learning the new computer system and generally getting things “absolutely ready” to open the doors.

 “You don’t realize how many things you have to put back together to get ready to open up,” he said Monday.

 Most of the area inside the front entrance had to be rebuilt after it was destroyed by the vehicle, which drove all the way back to the kitchen. Much of the kitchen equipment was intact, although some had to be replaced. A large cooler from an old Friendly’s Restaurant installed by the previous owner — Pete Plantanitis, who was Case’s wife Sue’s grandfather — was found to have sunk into the floor and had to be removed.

“It weighed 700 pounds,” he noted. The restaurant now sports new floors and new counters with gleaming metal edges, giving it the appearance of an old fashioned diner.

 “It looks like Larry’s, but the lines are cleaner,” Case said.

While Larry’s lost some staff members to other local restaurants, most employees will be returning, Case said. Some college students who previously worked at the restaurant will be returning weekends to help out, he added.

“We even have locals who are going to come in and meet and greet, clear tables, and, if there’s a wait for food, keep the customers happy,” he said.

Reopening is obviously a relief for Case, who said the past nine months have been difficult. After the accident, it took months before any meaningful repair work began due to insurance and other claims; it wasn’t until a contractor Ford Design and Build of Chatham was brought onto the job in July that progress picked up. Missing the summer season was hard both financially and emotionally, he said.

“I can’t tell you how many weeks and months I’ve just been sad,” Case said. “I didn’t even know how I was feeling.”

With the reopening in sight, he said he is feeling “a little more alive, and I have a purpose.”

 Case said he and his wife Sue “are just so excited and so grateful. We’re blessed to live in this town. They all stepped up for us. I don’t even know where to begin to thank people, there’s so many.”

 He singled out Knots Landing for hosting a fundraiser and the Pals for Life Foundation for providing his staff with financial help to pay their bills during the closing.

 “I don’t think we’d be here if it wasn’t for them,” he said.

 On Monday he was choosing paper color for the new menus and working on understanding the new Toast customer service system.

 “We’ll just have to start from the beginning and stay positive,” he said. “We’re going to come out kicking and scratching.”