After surviving two hurricanes, iconic St. Augustine restaurant back open

Flavors Eatery is a St. Augustine staple, but the restaurant has been closed for four of the past eleven months.

The building experienced severe damage during Hurricane Matthew.

Owner Peter Kavanagh tells Action News Jax: “We had redo the whole building. Floors, plumbing, electric, walls, and painting.”

Kavanagh says that work took 11 weeks to complete -- and just eight months later, Hurricane Irma hit Northeast Florida.

This time, the owners did more prep work, including surrounding the building with 350 sandbags. Irma didn't cause as much damage, but the eatery still had to be shut down and gutted.

“All the bills, the phone bill,  the Wifi, mortgage, taxes, licenses, all keep coming," Kavanagh said. "Suddenly you realize there’s nothing coming in."

Monday was their first day back in business. Regulars were thrilled, and Kavanagh was waiting for more customers.

"It’ll take us a week to get back up and running properly like we used to again," Kavanagh said.

Cox Media Group