CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A new restaurant in Cedar Rapids is making its Lighthouse Inn Supper Club employees available.
This comes after a fire destroyed the historic restaurant earlier this week.
The Salsa Guy Café opened on Mount Vernon Road on August 13th.
The very next day they learned that one of Cedar Rapids’ oldest grocery stores had burned to the ground.
“Everyone was shocked. You could smell it before you even knew it,” said Tim Palmer, owner of Salsa Guy.
After serving Cedar Rapids for 112 years, the building’s history was destroyed.
All the connections that had been made over this long history have suddenly disappeared.
“When you work in the food industry, you have a lot of regular customers that you’re really close with. Not having those connections on a daily basis is devastating. I mean, I’ve changed jobs a few times and each time it’s like I lose a part of myself,” said Shanel King.
King is a cook at the Salsa Guy Cafe and friends with the staff at the Lighthouse Inn. After hearing about the fire at the restaurant, she immediately knew she wanted to do something.
You can’t just rebuild a 112-year-old restaurant. But I was ready! My colleagues said, ‘If you want us out there with a hammer, we’re here,'” King said.
Under her leadership, the Salsa Guy Café now offers free meals to Lighthouse Inn employees.
“The restaurant community in Cedar Rapids is one big extended family,” Palmer said.
Tim Palmer, owner of Salsa Guy, says food at his restaurant is a love language.
He said these acts of kindness mean a lot to the staff at the Lighthouse Inn after losing their restaurant family.
“A big advantage of this business is that you get free meals. Some people who had a long day at work would get two free meals. That could be their food for the whole day. And that’s gone now,” Palmer said.
Palmer said even though the building no longer exists, its stories remain, and he believes supporting the Lighthouse staff can help keep its history and connections alive.
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