Lawrenceburg restaurant reopens doors after devastating January fire

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. (FOX 56) — A Lawrenceburg restaurant has reopened its doors, several months after a devastating fire forced it to close.

After nearly eight months of remodeling and repairs, the new owners of Heavens to Betsy said the restaurant will feel just like what people remember, but with a few exciting new touches.

“When people said they missed us, they meant it,” said Owner Jessica Seeberger

The popular eatery closed down in January after a wiring issue in the bakery started a fire, forcing the restaurant to close its doors. It’s known for its world-famous Reuben.

“When we first posted in May, ‘Hey guys, we’re opening back up. You know, we’ll announce an opening date later.’ I say that it went small-town viral; within a couple of hours, we had over 700 reactions. My phone just did not quit blowing up; people were so excited,” said Jessica. “So, us closing only hurt us because we weren’t open. But it also hurt our downtown businesses because at the time, there was no place else to come and eat on Main Street, and so then people weren’t coming to do shopping and that type of thing. So the whole street is very happy that we’re back. I think everybody’s benefiting from it.”

Following the fire, the original owners, Betsy and Jackson Horton, sold the business to the Seeberger family.

“So, we’ve had lots of help to get it back up and running. We’ve had so many people comment as they come in, how bright and shiny everything looks, but it also looks the same as it did. Just a little bit of a facelift,” Jessica said.

Jessica’s daughter, Abbi, is a young business owner and is heading to the Culinary Institute of America for a three-year program. When she returns, she will step into a leadership role at Heavens to Betsy and take over eventually. Abbi also got to cut the ribbon on the grand re-opening.

“I think it’s very exciting because I’ve never really been one who wants to just sit down and work at a computer, and so I’m excited to be able to take my love for cooking and turn that into a real business that will be profitable, and I’ll be able to make a family out of it,” said Abbi.

The long-awaited return of Heavens to Betsy was held with a grand re-opening that brought in lines of people eagerly waiting to get their hands on gourmet sandwiches and desserts.

“We’ve had nothing but our record sales since the day we opened,” said Jessica. “We had lines out the door. We did more sandwiches, about 350 to 400 sandwiches that day, and we did that for four days straight, and I think for the previous 10 to 15 years, a record day might have been a little over 200. So, it’s been insane.” Jessica said.

Jackson and Betsy (the founders) are still part of our team, and their head chef, Lindsey Evans, is back in the kitchen again.

“The community’s shown really great support, and that’s all we need right now, is just everybody to be here and make it happen,” said Evans. It’s been a super crazy ride to me, mostly because I’m not super used to it being as busy as it has been, but I’ve got a super great team here and we’re just making it work.”

Jessica said reopening the shop is the first step in their five-year plan. They own three buildings on Main Street and plan to add a rooftop bar, luxury Airbnbs, a bakery for Abbi, and more. They are calling this 20,000 sq ft renovation “3 Brick Row.”

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays.