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“It feels normal again. It feels good.”
That’s the sense of relief from Long Beach Sandwich Company owner Dan Monteforte, whose popular West Beech Street deli has reopened two and a half months after a kitchen fire forced it to close.
The neighborhood sandwich shop had been shuttered since Dec. 21, when a fire broke out on a stovetop during the middle of the lunch rush.
Monteforte said the flames caused significant damage before the Long Beach Fire Department was able to extinguish them, leaving the restaurant in need of a full kitchen rebuild before it could welcome customers back.
“We had to renovate the whole thing, rip out the kitchen, soup to nuts,” Monteforte told Greater Long Island. “Thankfully no one was injured.”
Monteforte said one of his biggest concerns during the closure was the impact on his employees, who were suddenly out of work during the holiday season.
“I felt terrible for my staff,” he said. “Being out of work for that long, especially around Christmas, isn’t easy. I did what I could to take care of them, but the community really rallied for them.”
He said a nearby bar helped raise some much-needed cash for the staff.
“A bar down the block, Shines, put out a tip cup and they raised a couple thousand dollars for my crew,” Monteforte said. “There is nothing like the people of Long Beach. The West End community is amazing.”
While the kitchen was rebuilt, Monteforte said he used the downtime to make a few small improvements.
“We cleaned up the place and made a couple of minor tweaks to the menu, but not much,” he said. “We wanted everyone to come back and feel at home again.”
“Everyone keeps coming in and saying, ‘We are so happy you are back. We didn’t know where else to go while you were gone,’” he said.
On the first day back, Monteforte said he made a point of working the counter himself so he could personally welcome customers.
“Usually I have people to do that, but I wanted to personally greet the community, say hello and let them know everything is back to normal,” he said. “I’m just so happy we are finally back.”
During the spring, Long Beach Sandwich Company will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Top: Dan Monteforte is all smiles, back behind the counter at Long Beach Sandwich Company. (Credit: GLI/Andrew Rappaport)
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