Tuesday, February 16, 2010 2:54 AM
Fans of Nancy's Home Cooking, mark Friday on your calendar. That's when the
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She was sitting in class at Ohio State University when loyalty to her aunt's business overtook her scholastic ambitions.
"Do I keep going to school, or do I give this up and go full steam (and help reopen Nancy's)?"
She decided to put her master's degree in social work on hold and dedicate all her energy to reopening her aunt Cindy King's beloved neighborhood eatery at 3133 N. High St. "The more I went to see Cindy and saw how heartbroken she was, the more I wanted to do it," Hahn said. "She gave this place 40 years of heart and soul."
Her work with Nancy's continues a family tradition.
"My grandparents worked for Cindy. I would come in with them and make coleslaw. I've been in this restaurant since I was 5, but I never thought I would continue it. It was Cindy's life, not mine, but things happen for a reason."
Whatever the reason, Nancy's is back with its traditional menu. You can still order the garbage omelet with bacon, ham, sausage, green peppers, onion, tomatoes, and cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, and the sausage gravy and biscuits will now be available every day, not just on weekends. There will be a lunch special every day.
What's changed a bit are the prices. Nancy's meals usually cost about $5, including the drink. Now, most of the meals will cost about $1 more.
"We had to raise prices, but after everything we've been through, I don't think customers will have a problem with that," Hahn said.
The road to opening day has been as fraught with hardships as the circumstances that led King to close Nancy's Home Cooking in the first place.
The doors shut -- supposedly forever -- on June 1 after 38 years. In throwing in the spatula, King cited professional and personal crises, including rising food prices, construction along High Street, mounting medical bills and health problems.
It seems that no one would let the diner go quietly.
Hahn and a handful of other relatives formed a partnership to revive the diner, but everyone but Hahn dropped out along the way. Nancy's needed expensive upgrades, including a new fire-suppression system, exhaust and a hood in the kitchen.
The restaurant was supposed to reopen in November, but the contractor hired to bring the space up to code quit. "He handed back my check and said 'Sorry,' " Hahn said. "We had to go back to square one."
Eventually, things started to look up.
The landlords offered free rent for three months to give backers time to decide what to do with the restaurant. Hahn's longtime friend Monica Lachman, a co-owner of Ledo's Lounge, became an investor.
Then, Hahn's husband, Rick, was laid off in September, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. "It hasn't been such a bad thing after all," Hahn said. "He's put a lot of manpower into Nancy's."
Nancy's fans Conor Malloy and Kimberly Burky started a "Save Nancy's Home Cooking" Facebook page that has 4,107 fans. Former customers from as far away as England have donated about $13,000 to help reopen the restaurant. A "Kegs & Eggs" fundraiser held last spring raised an additional $2,000.
Lowe's donated new flooring, and people have stopped by during the renovation and volunteered to help paint and clean.
"It's crazy. I didn't realize how much my aunt's business meant to people," Hahn said. "That's what Cindy meant to these people. They're not doing it for me."
The smiling face of Cindy King will be part of the new Nancy's, but she won't be on the clock. "She's going to come in, pour some coffee, run her mouth off and have lunch with her friends," Hahn said. "If she's happy, I'm happy."
Nancy's Home Cooking is open 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every day.
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