There may be hope for the shuttered Tookie's after all. Owner Jim Spears finally returned my phone call ("I was on vacation. Sorry I missed your call!" he told me). After a lengthy explanation that included mountains of insurance paperwork, new building code problems, future highway expansion, fan mail (and a new Tookie's' fan page on Facebook), I finally asked him, "Yes, or No?" He said the answer was not that easy. He wants to reopen but it may be a while. He also pointed out that he's approaching 70 and has no offspring to take the helm, but you can count out any rumor to sell the place. The good news is that he still has it in him and will probably reopen.
The only way you can help is to tell him how much you loved the place. He told me that he can't believe the outpouring of support he's received since the hurricane. The building looks to be in decent shape and anything over the 5 foot watermark was spared. Anything under that was destroyed, which included all of the custom made tables and just about everything in the kitchen. And if that were not enough, in the days following the storm the place was looted and thieves made off with kitchen appliances that had survived.
Jim will not take donations to reopen but enjoys reading the comments on the Facebook page so keep those comments coming!
