GRAND RAPIDS -- When Little Mexico Cafe
burned down more than a year ago
, Cheryl Saylor and Lori Church watched in horror as the flames devoured their favorite restaurant.
They've eaten at the local landmark for the better half of a decade, celebrating everything from birthdays to marriage proposals. And since it burned down in September 2008, "We've been missing it," Saylor said.
So it was with celebratory flair Thursday that she enjoyed a plate of Chimichangas during the restaurant's reopening.
The two friends -- along with many other hungry Grand Rapidians -- were happy to stand in line for an hour as they squeezed into the packed restaurant at 401 Stocking Ave. NW along with a new friend, Gaby Segovia.
"Worth every minute of it," Church said.
Hoping to avoid the long line, Ben Kragt swung by and ordered take-out for his family. They used to eat at Little Mexico once a week. And ever since they visited a less-tasty Mexican restaurant in Indianapolis a month ago, they've been licking their lips, awaiting the reopening.
"We like to use the local restaurants around the neighborhood," Kragt said. "So this was one of our staples."
"The service was always great, always friendly, always fast," he added.
For others, it was a chance to make up for lost time. Sarah Wagner had eaten at the restaurant several times before it burned down. But Thursday night, she returned with her roommate, Jenn Smith, hungrier than ever for authentic Mexican food.
"I always wished I would've eaten here more," Wagner said. "So when they said they would rebuild it, I was really excited."
In some ways, Little Mexico's reopening was met with more popularity than it's grand opening in the early 1990s. Wagner was one of more than 4,000 others to join the restaurant's Facebook fan page.
Erika Ayala, daughter of the the restaurant's owners, Enrique and Consuelo Ayala, said the journey to the re-opening started with the devastating fire.
"It was terrible, because we depended on the restaurant," said Ayala, who is a hostess there. But Thursday night's excitement matched the heartbroken feeling her family suffered when restaurant burned down.
"We're happy because our family got it back," she said. "We've been wanting this for a long time."
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