"If you would've told me that I'd never leave this town back when I was 18, I would've said I don't know about that."

A Salem staple just won the title of Virginia’s best restaurant.

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. 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.

SALEM, Va. – Mac and Bob’s in Salem is no stranger to media attention, but co-owner Bob Rotanz said the attention on Monday was surreal. A crew from the Today Show spent almost seven hours in the restaurant talking to Rotanz, his business partner and customers. With bankruptcy in the rear view mirror, Rotanz and customers are looking forward to the restaurant’s national television debut. A waiter prepares to serve customers their food at Mac and Bob’s on Monday, Feb. 17. “We can put it on our social media, on our website, ‘As seen on NBC’s Today Show,'" Rotanz said, laughing.