Popular New Smyrna Beach restaurant reopens after it burned down

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. - A popular restaurant and bar in New Smyrna Beach is reopened after a fire burned it down.

Ocean Breeze Tiki Bar is back open after an electrical fire broke out in April, but it won't look like what you're used to. The restaurant normally operated on the roof, but now it's reopened on the ground level only as they work to rebuild upstairs.

It's a temporary solution, so Ocean Breeze can get its staff back to work and customers in the doors. Restaurant management expanded its bar downstairs, built a deck to put their tables, and have a trailer in back to grill up food.

"The upstairs rebuild will take about a year," said General Manager James Mason. "So, to not have the guys displaced and get everybody back to work this is the fastest solution we could make happen to get everyone back working again."

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However, Ocean Breeze Tiki Bar has its work cut out for them. Mason says the city has given them a year to keep the deck open downstairs before moving back up to the roof.

"We’re on the clock," said Mason. "This is a temporary thing. If we don’t have progress upstairs, this will all go away."

While they're operating under the temporary fix, the future is looking bright for Ocean Breeze as they rise from the ashes.

"Just the smiles on everyone’s faces tell me we’re doing it right," said Mason. "It doesn’t have to be an over-the-top restaurant. It’s about the people who staff it, and the people who come here."

The gift shop attached to the restaurant, Wildside Beachwear, is open and operating too.