ALBEMARLE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Jay’s Seafood Restaurant in Stanly County is now back in business after a four-alarm fire destroyed it last year.
The owners relied on faith and family to get through the past year.
The lines were out of the door last weekend for the reopening of Jay’s Seafood Restaurant.
The family-run business has been around for almost 60 years on Stony Gap Road, and with the rebuilding, they’re hoping to be in business for generations to come.
“There’s a really big sense of family here,” said Megan Stallings, whose family owns the restaurant.
The roots run deep at Jay’s.
“It must be in their blood because I don’t know why you would want to get a job and work weekends and spend all your time,” said Ned Stallings, the second-generation owner.
His parents opened the place in 1967.
“It’s always been a family business, and I always enjoyed working with my parents and my uncles and cousins,” said Ned Stallings.
Megan Stallings married into the family.
“I think my husband feels a big sense of pride and I do as well, we really do want to give 100 percent because it has been in his family for so long,” Megan said.
She’ll never forget Jan. 3, 2024.
“He (her husband) said the fish house is on fire,” said Megan.
Flames tore through the restaurant.
“It just felt surreal, I think we all were in shock for a while,” said Megan.
They knew they’d rebuild. But they just didn’t always know how.
“It’s been a nightmare,” said Ned. “You’d come in this building, and it looked so hopeless.”
The walls were destroyed, the floors, everything.
It took more than a year to replace what the fire took.
“It was like night and day, you’d be on top, then you’d be on bottom, and then you can come back up,” said Ned.
They did it once before, in 1977 they had another fire at the restaurant.
This time there are the little things that survived, like the paintings inside and the fish outside on the roof.
“When we got electricity back, the sign worked fine,” said Ned.
It’s the little things that mean so much to keep the family business going.
“It feels good to be back, it’s hard to believe it’s back,” said Ned.
Most of the employees were able to stick around and found work over the last year at their downtown location.
One employee has been at the restaurant for almost 50 years and almost all of them were able to return with the reopening.
The builder says the fire started in the kitchen, but it’s still unclear exactly what caused it.
