News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Crawdaddy’s Restaurant, a staple of Cookeville’s Historic West Side, reopened today after one full year since fire closed the location.
Co-Owner Drew Blalock said there were tears, anticipation and nervousness leading up to this day, but now the restaurant is ready.
“I won’t say there is one big challenge. There was a lot of little challenges. They add up, but all you can do is keep plugging,” Blalock said. “Sometimes it’s one step forward, two steps back, but sometimes it’s the other way. We’re finally at the finish line now. So, I look at it as an experience. One that you can grow from.”
Before opening to the full public, Blalock said his crew provided a dinner for first responders Monday that fought the flames that earlier morning. Blalock said the gesture was his way of saying thank you.
“We had the honor to feed the firefighters last night,” Blalock said. “We just had a lot of oohs and aahs and a lot of wows, so I’m excited about that. We still look to maintain the great service, great food and great atmosphere that we’ve always had and make it better than before.”
The reconstruction of Crawdaddy’s brings an expansion to the kitchen, new amenities and other upgrades while keeping the rustic look. Blalock said the restaurant is back to normal hours, opening at 11:00 a.m. and closing at 10:oo p.m. seven days a week.
Blalock said that his motivation to reopen, “Was to get back where we were and even better if we can. Honestly, I can’t wait to show this place off to everybody. It looks amazing.”
Crawdaddy’s suffered some $1 million in extensive smoke, water and fire damage from the flames on December 16th 2020. TBI investigators and fire officials at the time said the probable cause was an electrical matter with a ceiling fan on the outside balcony.
