Lucilla restaurant in Tallahassee reopens Wednesday, bouncing back from recent tornadoes
Lucilla, the prized upscale eatery, is back open for service Wednesday, despite being faced with one of the worst-case scenarios after the recent storms.
The lights are back on and the doors are reopening, but "it was just the absolute worst timing," said Joe Richardson, the restaurant's co-owner.
Tallahassee was devastated last Friday by three tornadoes and 100-mph winds that snapped trees, destroyed homes and downed power lines, affecting tens of thousands.
That includes local restaurant owners who had to not only worry about their lives and their own homes, but the businesses they poured money, energy and time into. Richardson and his partner, Lara Hooper, were looking forward to Sunday, May 12 – Mother's Day, one of the biggest days in the restaurant industry.
The holiday also functions as a critical source of revenue for locally owned restaurants. This year, it served as a day of recovery instead.
"We were really counting on it," Richardson said. "We had a ton of reservations all weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So we were going to make a lot of money to give ourselves a little bit of cushion heading into summer where we totally lose money."
Despite its prestige as being a destination restaurant for upscale comfort food, many business owners like the couple continuously fight to keep their doors open and foot traffic going in the doldrums of summer.
"It's really tough for us," Richardson said.
Being in business for the last eight years, the owners have had their ups and downs in hurricane seasons including Hurricane Michael in 2018 and Hurricane Idalia in 2023, both towards the end of the summer, which Richardson says is a major difference in the effect of this spring's tornadoes.
The restaurant got its power back Sunday evening and the owners were greeted with a flood of voicemails from people looking for anywhere to eat and inquiring on the status of their reservations.
The team is brainstorming ways to generate money during the summer and get people excited again as everyone gets back to normal despite all the hardship they may have faced in the past week. Ideas being thrown around currently include more spontaneous wine dinners.
For now, their first step is reopening.
If you go
When: 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday.
Where: 1241 E. Lafayette St., Tallahassee.
Kyla A Sanford covers dining and entertainment for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ksanford@tallahassee.com. New restaurant opening up, special deals, or events coming up? Let me know!
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Lucilla restaurant in Tallahassee reopens Wednesday
