Granzella's repoens to swarm of customers

WILLIAMS - A larger-than-expected crowd greeted the Granzella's restaurant staff on its first day back in business since an October fire that shut down the eatery.

Monday's swarms of customers were an eye-opener for the new hires, but their helping hands were much appreciated by managers and returning employees.

"This week is going to be tough," said Gary Jenkins, owner Jim Granzella's son-in-law. "But, hey, it's better than being out of business."

The morning was the usual, "slower Monday pace," said Jenkins, but during the lunch hour the crowd kept pouring in. None of the customers seemed to mind the rush.

"We are just so glad it is open again," said Nina Crowe and Corrie Pedrotti, frequent Granzella's visitors from Eureka.

"I totally lucked out making it here for opening day," said Rebecca Solaire from Redding. "We usually just stop in whenever we are passing through."

The new interior and improved features did not go unnoticed. Yreka resident Frank DeMarco has been visiting Granzella's since the restaurant's early days, and he was glad to see the building's exterior nearly unchanged.

"If you stop and look on the outside, it is like you're entering the same 1976 building as before, but when you come inside it is all nice and new," he said.

Daniel Jenkins, Gary's son and a restaurant employee, helped with some of the renovation work for the last five months and was thrilled to be finished with the stress of completing the building on time, ready to worry about other things - like the new computer system.

"It feels really good," he said. "It is hard to believe it is all happening again."

There are minimal changes to the menu and services. A variety of new gelato ice cream flavors are available in the bakery and the restaurant menu has added a few items.

"It is still the same good ol' Granzella's stuff," said Jenkins.

Like many faithful customers, the Rev. Christopher LaRocca of San Francisco stops in every time he passes through. He left the new building Monday with a flat of Sicilian anchovies, the same ones he has been purchasing for more years than he can remember. "This is the only place in the states you can get these anchovies," he said. They are Italian anchovies from Sciacca, Sicily, the same ones his great-grandfather fished for when he lived there.

Much like Sciacca anchovies for LaRocca, the deli, restaurant, bakery and bar serve as an integral part of the Granzella family lineage. The reconstruction was a laborious process but looks to be paying off, said Jenkins.

"It feels great to be out of my dirty work clothes, back in all black, and into the routine again," he said.