Connie's IDK set to reopen soon after crash

July 31--Massive spray-painted letters across the particleboard covering the demolished entrance to Connie's IDK Eatery announced this week that the restaurant, closed since a vehicle slammed into it more than a month ago, will indeed return.

"OPEN SOON," the board advises motorists headed west on Fourth Avenue.

Exactly how soon, however, is still a little unclear.

Connie Carithers operates the restaurant -- which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner -- in a building at 1228 E. Fourth Ave. that Shad Byard owns.

Therefore, Byard's insurance is covering the work.

"We're just waiting on a door frame," Byard said this week. "You have to set the door frame and then set the wall."

He has ordered the glass door from Sturgeon Glass, which was expected to take a week to manufacture. Then Strawn Construction will rebuild the wood and brick exterior walls. If the door arrives on time, work should start by Monday.

The delay was waiting on insurance, Byard said. His insurance company was attempting to recover damages through the insurance company of the driver of the vehicle who ran into the building about 3 a.m. June 25.

The driver fled the scene, abandoning his car inside the building. He hasn't been found.

Besides the front door and wall, the wreck damaged an interior firewall, counter and a few tables. Damages were about $15,000, Byard said.

"In the back area there were a couple of booths that will be tables now," Carithers said. They will also add some new sunshades in the large front windows, but otherwise the interior will be about the same.

"We're hoping in a couple of weeks it will reopen," Carithers said. "We're not sure on the exact date yet."

Carithers said she plans to buy the building from Byard, but has to operate a full year before she can get a loan. The wreck set her back a bit.

"My dream is to own the thing," she said. "I've put some money in, but it's been a struggle."

Some friends set up a GoFundMe page to support her, which "brought in a little," Carithers said, and she sold some belongings to get enough to keep utilities on the building.

"It's been a long few weeks, but I think I'll be able to hang in and do it," she said."Without the support of family, friends and loyal customers, reopening would not have been possible."

"I started this because I love to cook," said Carithers, 55. "I've worked in restaurants since I was 13. I just have a passion for cooking and I love people."

A Buhler native, her first job was at a Sonic restaurant, and then she worked in her mother's bar and grill for years. She worked for UPS for 20 years and, after retiring from there, "wasn't happy staying at home," Carithers said. She managed another local restaurant for a couple of years, and then worked in the office of an alarm company.

"I was just not happy with office life," she said. "I'd helped Shad a few times when Oliver's was here and when I heard he wanted to sell the business, I thought, 'Why not?' "

The name Connie's IDK goes back to something she said to her children years ago, Carithers said.

"When my kids were growing up and I'd ask what they wanted to eat, they'd say, 'I don't know,' " Carithers said. "I said, 'Someday somebody's going to name a restaurant that.' "

Today's texting language allowed her to shorten it to IDK.

The restaurant serves "diner food," Carithers said.

"I don't make gourmet-type things," she said. "It's a basic diner hamburger, like you can get at home. I make the hamburgers fresh every day; I patty them myself. It's comfort food, from back in the day."

She serves breakfast all day, including biscuits and gravy, Carithers said, noting, "Not everyone eats breakfast at 7 a.m."

"I don't do this to get rich," she said. "It's a passion. I'm here to do what I love to do, to pay my bills and to see people. For the next 10 years, it's what I want to do."

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