WILLISTON, FL (352today.com) – A restaurant that’s been serving lunch and supper in the Williston community for three decades is closed until further notice.

Fire broke out at The Ivy House restaurant located at 106 NW Main St. on Tuesday around 4 p.m.

The family-run business had just finished up lunch service and was closed for the rest of the day when the fire began.

“My daughter-in-law has a salon next door. She saw the smoke and called 911,” said Evelyn Nussel, the restaurant’s co-owner. “The city is right next to us. Two city employees went into the burning building and shut the gas off.”

Nussel credits the actions of those two; as well as the quick response of the Williston Fire Department with containing the fire.

“We would not have had a building standing at all, if not for them.” said Nussel. “I cannot brag enough about the fire people. Amazing, amazing firemen and Chief Lamar Stegall.”

Nussel says fire investigators haven’t officially determined the cause but suspect an electrical fire. Nussel says it caused mostly smoke damage and shudders to think about what could have happened to the more than a century old building which was once the home of the city’s founding father Dr. J.M. Willis.

Marjorie ‘Mimi’ Hale died in June at 89. “She worked every day and worked circles around us,” said her daughter Evelyn Nussel. Courtesy: Evelyn Nussel
Owners are disappointed they won’t be re-opened in time for Thanksgiving, a 30-year tradition, and encourage customers to visit their restaurant in Ocala in the interim. Courtesy: Evelyn Nussel

“We’re so blessed we didn’t lose the building and that my mother’s legacy was saved,” said Nussel. “Our hope is to have you back at our table soon and to continue Mimi’s legacy.”

‘Mimi’ is how everyone knew Marjorie Hale, the founder of The Ivy House and its sister restaurant Ivy on the Square in downtown Ocala at 53 S. Magnolia Ave.

“The love of her life was cooking and Southern hospitality,” said Nussel.

Mimi died in June at the age of 89.

“She worked every day and worked circles around us until the day she passed,” said Nussel.

The Ivy House menu includes fried green tomatoes from a 50-year-old family recipe, baked krispy chicken served with homemade macaroni and cheese, and ‘Good Ole Southern Tea’ to wash it all down.

“My biggest disappointment is not being able to serve all the people who had Thanksgiving reservations,” confessed Nussel. Where possible, Nussel and her sister, Waica Micheletti, who also co-owns the restaurants, are trying to absorb the Williston customers at the Ocala location.

In the meantime, Nussel is just grateful no one was injured in the fire and is already planning how she’ll show her gratitude.

“We’ll get it back open to serve our community and take care of our customers. We’ll do a supper for them [the firefighters] soon to thank them for saving our building.”