Hwy. 67 Gas and Grill reopening soon

By Staff, 02/3/21 10:02 AM

EMMET – An electrical fire in November ended up shutting Hwy. 67 Gas and Grill down, but the business should be open again by March 1.

Linda Hamilton, one of the owners, said the fire was in the kitchen, which was pretty much destroyed and the rest of the building suffered smoke and water damage. Once the fire was extinguished and the insurance company called in, the building was locked down until it was proven no arson was involved. This took the better part of six weeks. In mid-December, though, the Hamiltons were able to start work to renovate and get ready to reopen their business.

They did most of the work themselves, but got help from the City of Emmet, with Mayor Dale Booker sending his crews to help remove the debris and haul it off. Phillip Prince with B&P Pattern Mill has also helped get the business back up and running. While most of the kitchen equipment had to be replaced, the coolers in front and the hvac unit weren’t damaged, but did need to be cleaned. The vent-a-hood in the kitchen had to be replaced and is expected to be installed tomorrow, according to Hamilton. In addition, new gas pumps have been installed and are in use now. She said while they don’t have business hours yet, if anyone needs gas and can catch them there, they can buy gas. People can prepay with these new pumps, which will automatically shut off when the paid amount is reached. There were problems with the old pumps as they were original from when the store was first built. In the next two weeks, she added, they should also have product in the front of the store, like chips and candy.

For the most part, the store will look like it did before the fire, but there will be some changes. First, there won’t be a drop ceiling. It will be open with Christmas lights strung throughout the front of the business. The walls will be tin and wood, giving it a rustic look.

There will also be changes to the menu. For now, there will be no more pizzas as the pizza machine was destroyed in the fire. However, she said, they may add pizzas again in the future. There will also be no more steak night. Previously, catfish was only available Fridays and Saturdays, but will now be a staple on the daily menu. People will also be able to get fried shrimp any day of the week, though the Cajun boiled shrimp will only be available Friday and Saturday. Their world famous burgers aren’t going anywhere.

Another new feature is the pick-up window. Hamilton stressed it’s not a drive-through because they aren’t a fast food restaurant. People can call in their order, drive by and pick it up at the window and go on their merry way if they don’t want to go inside the store.

“A lot of people have stopped by saying they’re ready for us to open. They’ve been very encouraging. We’re looking forward to reopening. I miss our regulars and catching up with them.”