EASTON, Pa. — Downtown Easton’s State Cafe & Grill held its grand reopening Thursday, eight months after water from firefighters battling a nearby hotel fire flooded its basement and forced it to close.
The breakfast and lunch cafe at 14-16 S. Fifth St. is back to its usual hours, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Monday, after a soft reopening from Thursday, Oct. 22, through Sunday, Oct. 25, that drew lines of customers.
Other than some menu changes and fresh paint, returning customers will find the cafe they remember, its walls still covered in works by local artists.
“It was a really good, busy weekend. It feels great to have all the customers coming back. We had a great time,” said owner Bill Sneeringer.
“Thursday and Friday started off nice and manageable,” he said, which gave the cafe time to train new staff. “On Saturday and Sunday, we were busy from open to close.”
Sneeringer said the menu changes seem to be working so far. The cafe even ran out of some items during the soft-reopening weekend.
Flooded by a fire nearby
The cafe closed after a three-alarm fire broke out at the Hotel Hampton in the 400 block of Northampton Street on Friday, Feb. 20, injuring several people, including a firefighter. The cafe’s building had no fire damage, but runoff from the firefighting left several feet of water in its basement.
Repairs included replacing the basement’s electrical systems, walk-in cooler and water heater, and fixing the alarm and camera systems. The cafe had been preparing for a busy weekend, but water contamination and an hourslong power shutoff meant all of its stock was lost.
On May 8 and 9, the cafe held a breakfast and lunch pop-up with a limited menu at the Bank Street Annex, where customers came out to show their support during the closure.
It is not the cafe’s first setback in recent years. The cafe replaced its roof in 2022, and a fire damaged it that same year, closing the cafe for 10 months.
Still hiring line cooks
The cafe lost some staff during the closure and has had trouble finding new line cooks.
“The people that we do have, have been putting in a lot of hours while we try to bring in some new people,” Sneeringer said. “We got the word out and we’re trying to find good people who want to work in a fun environment. We have a couple of good applications, hopefully they will work out this week.”
With many other restaurants closed Mondays, that day has become a surprisingly busy one for the cafe, Sneeringer said, especially on holiday weekends.
The cafe posts updates on its Facebook page, and the new menu is on its website.
