Mac and Bob’s reopens less than a month after restaurant fire

If the fire had happened overnight, there may have been no restaurant left

SALEM, Va. – A local favorite is back open after shutting down because of a fire inside the restaurant.

Mac and Bob’s in Salem reopened weeks after an electrical fire burned part of the building.

An employee saw the smoke early in the morning and the fire department said if it had happened overnight, there may have been no restaurant left.

It only took 22 days to reopen after the fire and co-owner Bob Rotanz said that’s all thanks to the community.

“Being in business for 40 years in town, we had a lot of people going to bat for us and helping us out, getting things done on a fast pace,” explained Rotanz.

Rotanz said it’s been a rough few years from their lawsuit to the coronavirus pandemic, but they wouldn’t be here without the community’s constant support.