By Elisabeth Strillacci

RICHFIELD — The Getaway Place, a much-loved restaurant on Richfield Road in Richfield that is on the Rowan/Stanly county line, caught on fire sometime around 2 a.m. April 21, and by the time firefighters from Pooletown and surrounding areas arrived 15 minutes later, the entire structure was fully involved.

Owner Amy O’Brien and her daughter, Leah, and the entire staff gathered Thursday on the site to talk about what happened, how loved the restaurant is by customers and by the crew, and what they are determined to rebuild.

According to Leah, there was a cord in the kitchen that was failing but they didn’t know it, and by the time Christi, who manages the front of the restaurant, left around midnight the night of the fire, her eyes were burning from the smoke but it was not visible, so no one quite knew what was wrong.

Amy got the call from a local firefighter’s wife, telling her the restaurant was on fire about 2:17 a.m. She immediately called Leah, who came to get her, but she also called Matt, who works in the kitchen and who hit the road right away, arriving before Amy and Leah.

Other staff including Josh and Kitty, also came out. And were heartbroken by the site of the damage. The kitchen was gone, and inside the dining area the roof is sagging, there is soot, heat and water damage, and structural collapse throughout the space.

“The entire building is structurally unsound,” said Matt.

And so, the goal, said Amy, is to clear the lot and rebuild, with a few modest changes.

“I want it to be essentially what people remember, what it was,” she said. “I have a few minor changes in mind, and I think the outside won’t be red, white and blue, but it has always been a patriotic place and it will be again.”

There is insurance, and Amy said she has a meeting with an adjuster Friday morning, but she has started a GoFundMe for her employees, because she can’t pay them while the site is cleared and the shop rebuilt.

“I will go get another job,” said Michelle, who has been with the restaurant the shortest amount of time at seven months, “but the minute I hear we are read to go, I’m giving my two weeks notice and coming back.”

Every single member of the crew agreed. It was clear the way they talked, finishing each other’s sentences, giving each other a hard time through laughter, the affection, this is a family, of blood for Amy and Leah but of love for the others. They are all chomping at the bit to get back to what they love.

Amy is the head chef if you will, and everything the restaurant makes is to order, meaning nothing is precooked or frozen. Everything is made when the order comes to the kitchen, so steaks can be ordered by size, as can pork chops. Food can be ordered without particular seasonings (or with for that matter). They offer special items like big steaks and big burgers (the official names are Big Ass Steak and Big Ass Burger). There is a 30-inch pizza and a 10-inch pretzel.

“You should see the looks on people’s faces when the come to pick up the pizza in a car,” said Josh.

“I have always believed if the food is good, people will come,” said Amy. The menu includes wings, pizza, steak, pork chops, grilled chicken, burgers, hot dogs, the list goes on.

“And you know the mark of a good restaurant is when nothing gets sent back to the kitchen, and here things don’t get sent back,” said Michelle. “I’ve worked in fancy restaurants in Lake Norman where they have a view, so the food doesn’t have to be so good. But here, although it is beautiful out here, it’s in the middle of nowhere, so the food has to be excellent, and it is.”

There have been nights where the wait for a table has been 45 minutes or longer, and people have patiently bided their time.

In addition to the good food, Amy offers other benefits. She created a pay it forward program where customers can pay for a beer for a service member or first responder, so when one comes in, they can have a beer on the house via the clients. She had just started a veteran’s lunch on Saturdays, with one service happening before the fire, inviting veterans from several area nursing homes. She intends to maintain both.

“Amy also gives anyone a chance,” said Matt. “She is willing to give anyone a try. Look, if it wasn’t for her, I’d have left long ago, because working in the kitchen and at the pass which is my slot is hard. I wouldn’t have stayed if not for her.”

The pass is the spot that works between front and back of house, finishing dishes, calling out what is needed, and it’s often the most stressful spot in a commercial kitchen. Matt said when Leah taught him the job, it was challenging for both of them, and they’d end up shouting at each other.

“But we take a moment, then come back and apologize and move on,” he said. “We are a family and we behave that way, and it’s why it works as well as it does.”

Michelle was seeing the damage for the first time Thursday and “this is a shock,” she said. She hadn’t realized quite how severe the damage was.

But a few things survived the fire. A beautiful wooden bar survived with a blister or two, and they plan to reuse it. A painting of the flag and eagle by Leah survived and will be back on the new walls. And a life-sized cardboard cutout of Donald Trump, the unofficial greeter, survived, and will be back at the door welcoming guests.

The group members hail from here in the South, from New York, from Baltimore, and Christi is from all over the place, from New Mexico to California to all the lower Southern states or their next-door neighbors.

The full staff includes Amy, Leah, Matt, Josh, Kitty, Kayla, Michelle, Christi and Payton. And at some point, Amy hopes that her son Ryan will join, when he is ready.

They have nicknames for one another, a few share housing, and for all of them, this is home. And they say it’s also home to a colony of cats that live in the woods around and behind the restaurant that they feed and take care of, and as evidence, Matt stood out back and called to them and at least a dozen came out of the woods to see what was up.

One mother cat had three new kittens behind the back of the kitchen. She rescued one, the firefighters rescued another, but sadly, one of the babies, whose eyes were not yet open, didn’t make it. In saying that, everyone at the site was quiet for a moment. The cats are not just pest control. They, too, are family.

“We have a lot of customers asking if we are rebuilding, but I have seen a lot of people saying they hadn’t yet gotten to come and are hoping we rebuild so they can,” said Amy, who said she has been so grateful for the support from the community.

The Getaway was supposed to host a wedding reception in August, and Leah said she’s let the couple know and they are making other plans. But the whole staff chimed in with the hope that maybe, just maybe, they will be open by then.

“There are a lot of people volunteering to help, people who do construction,” said Kitty. “If we can use the volunteers and the community to help, we surely can get it done faster.”

It may not be quite that easy, but Amy and Leah are determined to come back, stronger and better, with the same attitude they have always had. Feed good people good food, and they will come back.

“I know we have one family that drives an hour and a half every Friday night to come here for steak,” said Leah. “So we can’t let them down.”

Amy purchased the property in 2020 when it was the Happy Days Tavern. The Getaway officially opened at the end of May 2021, and Christi was the first hire followed a few days later by Josh. The staff reached its current level seven months ago, and because they are a relatively small crew, they help each other out on busy nights when the line is out the door. There were 23 tables and most seated more than six people. Just before the fire, Leah said she had a table of 21 people.

The restaurant is Amy’s legacy for her children, something she hopes they will carry on.

As for the rest of the staff, they all had one thing to say.

“I’m ready to get back to work.”

Anyone who would like to donate to the GoFundMe to support the staff and help get rebuilding started can visit their GoFundMe here.