Owners ‘devastated’ after fire closes Old Hickory Steakhouse
UPDATE (11/4/21): A GoFundMe has been set up to benefit employees of Old Hickory Steakhouse. If you’re interested in contributing, click here.
JACKSON, Tenn. — “It’s hard to process this, it’s hard to believe you know? Like that morning I woke up and I thought, ‘oh, I had a bad dream,’ and I’m like ‘oh no, I didn’t,'” said Robin Ifantis.
Old Hickory Steakhouse owners Tom and Robin Ifantis were out of town when they received an unexpected call early Tuesday morning.
“We thought it was a little bit on the outside because we had a problem few months back, but then when she called she said, ‘momma, it’s coming through the roof, it’s from inside,’ so we got up and got dressed and headed back,” said Robin.
What was once Village Pizza Inn, Old Hickory Steakhouse has been providing food to West Tennessee for years. And on Tuesday morning, the restaurant caught fire.
“It’s devastating, just unbelievable the hard work we did all those years getting the place ready, [and] gone just that quick,” Tom said.
The Jackson Fire Department has yet to find a source from the fire. But the owners say the community is devastated.
“People always come and tell me, ‘oh I had my first birthday party there, my first date, or my first beer,’ or you know there’s always a lot of firsts,” Robin said.
And now, with nearly nothing left to salvage, the next plans for the steakhouse are unknown.
“Everybody that supported us all those years, we really really did appreciate it, thank you all very much for your support,” Tom said.
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