Popular Aberdeen diner reopens

MONROE COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI) -It may be true when they say you don’t know what you have until it’s gone

Now customers of the Fountain Grill are getting a second chance to discover a little local flavor.

When this diner closed, it not only left an empty building, but also a hole in the community.

Now the doors are open again, and customers old, and new are lining up for the experience. When you first walk into Fountain Grill, you are greeted by the familiar smells of comfort foods. Onion rings are in the fryer and burgers are on the grill.

For new owner, Jake Doty, the menu is part of his DNA.

His mother purchased the building when he was just four years old.

The family owned the diner for several years, selling it in 2008. It would go through several owners before closing its doors, seemingly for good.

But then Doty saw a chance to bring the Grill back into the family.

“I’ve had the opportunity to go back to just a landmark of Aberdeen, uh, business it’s been here for years, uh, just a monument for people that are out of town and come home and uh it’s something Aberdeen really needed,” said Doty.

Customers that came to the diner as kids are now coming back, reminiscing about the days they would come and grab a bite to eat.

“I was, I was glad to hear they’re opening it back up. And coming here is just like coming home again you know I’ve been coming here since I was a little child. They’re great people and I’m glad to see they’ve opened it back open again,” said customer Marlana Marich.

The menu has fan favorite spicy fries all the way to a juicy hamburger steak which seems to be very popular.

“Everything’s been great ,uh, lots of customers my mother fed when she was here, everything is from scratch,” said Doty.

A reopening usually means upgrades or a new look, but Doty says a sense of history is important to the diner, and he wants to bring back the experience older customers remember.

“I would like to keep the nostalgia,uh, the building has been the original building since 1958 and I don’t please to ,uh, do anything to change that,” said Doty.

The Fountain Grill is open in Aberdeen Monday through Friday from 6am- 9pm.