Fan-favorite Pensacola family-owned diner, Grover’s Fingers & Wings, has reopened at 9418 N. Davis Highway after being temporarily closed for nearly three months for renovation.
It has been a big year for Grover’s, as the restaurant opened a second, sparkling new location in Milton this summer. The tried-and-true menu carried over—specializing in jumbo wings, hand-breaded chicken tenders and flavor-blasted soft serve ice cream—however, the Milton store is very different in appearance. It was built from the ground up to lean into the Grover’s nostalgic design, featuring black and white checkered floors, cherry red booths and even a vintage jukebox in the dining room.
The original Pensacola staff moved over to Milton while the North Davis Highway store was closed, however, the Pensacola team returned to their home store on Oct. 13. Until they could get their full staff back, the Pensacola restaurant had to open on very limited breakfast and lunch hours throughout the month of October.
There were few people more excited to get the Pensacola store up and running again than owner Amy Johnson, who returned to the store where kids grew up and regulars return every day with a smile on their face.
“I can’t really explain how good of a feeling it is to be home,” Johnson said. “Their (customers’) smiles are as big as ours.”
While they were closed, she and owner Michael Graham made a handful of improvements to the small but mighty five-booth store, including upgraded floors, ceiling, AC unit and digital menu boards.
Graham echoed just how special their regulars are to them, remembering some of them as babies who are now old enough to drive themselves to the restaurant.
“They won’t eat anywhere else if we’re here,” Graham said of some of their longtime, loyal customers.
While the changes to the restaurant were not flashy, they were necessary, Johnson said, adding that’s the way customers wanted it, urging them to change as little as possible to prevent losing the mom-and-pop feel.
“It was the customers who said, ‘Please don’t change it,’” Johnson said. “There’s no change here other than a facelift. This has worked for us for years. This restaurant raised our family.”
As they always have, customers immediately poured back in to show their support, selling them out of wings Monday night. The two are also looking forward to reinstating their Tuesday motorcycle nights, which draw about 1,000 people from far beyond Pensacola for burgers, wings and onion rings.
Now that their staff is secure again, they have also extended their hours from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, offering the area more quality food options later into the evening.
“I’m so happy to be back,” Johnson said. “This is where it all started, and it’s the only place I want to be.”
For real-time updates and information on all things Grover’s, follow their social media pages at Grover’s Fingers and Wings for the Pensacola store and Grover’s 2.0 for the Milton location.
Hungry for more? Stay updated on the latest restaurant news by subscribing to our free Pensacola Eats newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign up for the newsletter at profile.pnj.com/newsletters/Pensacola-eats/.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Grover’s reopens its new and improved Pensacola restaurant after three-month renovation
Reporting by Brittany Misencik, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
