Chris Lonngren remembers the smell of smoke permeating his Schlotzsky's on 19th Street. A year later, he is thankful for the smell of baking bread, the return of most of his staff, and the upcoming reopening on Tuesday.
"It's been a long year," Lonngren said. "When we started baking bread on Monday, people would just stand at the door, breathing in. A year ago, I would come in, and it was just the smoke smell. You get a whiff of bread baking, and it smells a whole lot better than the smoke that we had from the fire."
The restaurant at 3715 19th St. will reopen at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1. From Aug. 1-2, they will operate from 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m., and offer a limited menu. On Aug. 3, the hours will return to 10 a.m.-9 p.m. all week.
"Hopefully, everyone will come and be patient the first day," Lonngren said. "We're looking forward to serving Lubbock again and getting back and doing the things that we used to do."
As part of the reopening, a percentage of sales made between Aug. 1-4 will go toward Saint Benedict’s Chapel. This is a partnership of 10 churches that are "dedicated to serving Lubbock’s homeless, working poor, and food insecure," according to their website.
"We always do a lot in the community, and there's lots of different groups we've supported," Lonngren said. "The number of meals that (Saint Benedict's Chapel) serves out of there is unbelievable. It's just amazing, the volunteers that they have coming in and the thousands of meals they do every week."
The journey to reopening Lubbock's 19th Street Schlotzsky's included extensive remodel after fire
In early August of 2022, the Schlotzsky's at 3715 19th St. had a fire that began in the kitchen and Lonngren's office. About two weeks later, a 19-year-old was arrested on suspicion of arson.
Related: Arson suspect in Schlotzsky's fire has been arrested
Lonngren's wife's family was among the first Schlotzsky's franchisees, and started to open multiple restaurants in the area about 45 years ago. Since the fire, Lonngren has been working to bring back one of their longest-running locations.
"It's taken a long time, a lot longer than we thought," Lonngren said. "The dining room looked pretty good, the kitchen was devastated, and my office got burned up. I thought it would take three or four months, but with all the smoke and damage, we ended up having to gut the whole thing and start over."
Looking on the positive side, Lonngren mentioned they had to opportunity to upgrade and finish some features. The kitchen received all-new equipment, the front counter was finished, and they opened more space.