Elmira Cafe set to reopen

ELMIRA — After months of dormancy due to an out-of-date water well, the Elmira Store Restaurant is nearly ready to reopen.

In January, Panhandle Health District officials told store owner Ed Cook his food establishment license would not be renewed after coliform — a bacteria — was found in the restaurant’s water system, according to PHD’s Cynthia Taggart.

In need of a new well, Cook hosted a fundraiser at the store in early June. The fundraiser turned out to be an enormous success, drawing as many as 600 people to the remote location, Cook said. He would not specify the amount of money raised at the event, but Cook said it was enough to help him purchase a new well, which has already been dug.

Officials from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality will inspect the well next week, and Cook hopes to have the restaurant open by early August. The news comes as a welcome surprise to the employees Cook was forced to lay off after closing the restaurant.

“They’re giddy,” Cook said. “They’re really getting anxious.”

After hearing feedback from hundreds of loyal customers since the closure, Cook said he has come to realize just how much the restaurant means to the community.

“They were constantly saying how much they missed it,” he said. “They missed the good food and the conversation and just the community spirit.”

He doesn’t have a firm date set for the reopening, but Cook said he will make an announcement on the store’s reader board as soon as he finds out.