SOUTH DEERFIELD — The long-awaited return of Jerry Dagrosa’s well-frequented restaurant in the center of the village will come on Tuesday at 6 a.m. sharp, when Jerry’s Place re-opens — with a few logistical changes.
Before early-August, when sickness forced Mr. Dagrosa to temporarily close, Jerry’s Place was open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch. Come Tuesday, the restaurant will be open every day except for Mondays, and will still offer breakfast and lunch – including its American-style menu and locally famous fish and chips on Fridays.
Pat Dagrosa, Jerry’s wife, said her husband’s sickness and the family-owned restaurant’s closing has been a challenging ordeal made easier by an outpouring of support in the form of “a hundred cards.”
“Every day for a couple of months,” Mrs. Dagrosa said Friday, while sitting on a stool at the breakfast counter, “a day didn’t go by when he didn’t get a card in the mail. He got one yesterday.”
A post on the business’ Facebook page, dated Aug. 4, announced that the owner “is fighting an infection and needs to take care. We will keep you all informed about future closings. We are taking this bump in the road one day at a time.” Mrs. Dagrosa said her husband underwent surgery and was in the hospital at one point. She also said they decided to temporarily close the business, because they don’t have employees, and survived off “rainy day” savings.
On Friday, Mr. Dagrosa said he’s doing well, and “can’t wait” to reopen. Inside, a white-board sign hanging above the grill read: “Welcome back Jerry! We missed you!”
“I’m excited, ever since last Tuesday when I got permission to open, I’ve been on ‘cloud nine,’” Mr. Dagrosa said, sitting across from his wife, adding that after hearing the good news last week, he’s been in and out of the store cleaning windows and preparing for reopening day. “My eggs came in today, vegetable orders are starting to come in, we’ll probably do some shopping over the weekend and open on Tuesday.”
Since Mr. Dagrosa, who said he was “raised into the industry,” opened the local eatery on April Fool’s Day in 1992, Jerry’s Place has provided a communal space to talk shop and argue local politics over a $6 breakfast. With homemade soups, beef purchased from Millstone Farm Market in Sunderland, and locally-sourced veggies, it’s the epitome of local flavor.
The restaurant’s temporary closing left a noticable void in the day-to-day flow of South Deerfield’s small-town community. For some, including a woman who told Mrs. Dagrosa she hasn’t gone out to breakfast with her husband since Jerry’s Place closed, that meant less socializing, or finding another venue.
Mrs. Dagrosa described Jerry’s Place as a communal space that attracts many small groups of people, which for some “is a comraderie they only get here.”
“This is the place it all happens, kinda like a hub for information,” Mrs. Dagrosa continued, pausing to take a phone call from someone asking if they’d opened again, before adding that “people miss this.”
“It’s a tight knit community that makes it worthwhile,” Mr. Dagrosa interjected, adding that “outside of my family, Jerry’s family is next.”