New York City's iconic Carnegie Deli will reopen after being closed since last April.
"Carnegie Deli will reopen tomorrow, February 9th!" the restaurant announced on its website today. "We look forward to serving our loyal patrons our gargantuan sandwiches and creamy cheesecake once again. We hope to see you soon!"
According to a Carnegie Deli rep, the 79-year-old restaurant will be "doing a soft reopening tomorrow morning and throughout the week. Their sole priority this week is to get back up and running, re-train the staff and reopen their doors." An official grand reopening celebration will take place next week.
The restaurant's fate has been in limbo for 10 months after being closed over an illegal gas hookup last April, though owner Marian Harper Levine has always insisted it would reopen.
Harper Levine told the New York Post back in November that she'd expected to reopen the restaurant that month, but "there was a setback in a recent inspection where more work was required to bring the Carnegie Deli up to code.”
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On Dec. 17, a statement went up in the restaurant's window to "set the record straight. Carnegie Deli will reopen in 2016. We are ONLY temporarily closed." The letter blamed "surprise setbacks" for the delay, including "many unforeseen structural complications, months of inspections, and required renovations that have taken much longer than any of us expected."
Heating and gas service, which was shut down to the entire building including residences above the restaurant, was finally restored in December.