Photo from Cookie Jar Cafe Facebook Page
Owners of the popular Dunlap eatery, Cookie Jar Cafe, announced on Wednesday that the restaurant will reopen following the devastating fire that damaged their building back in June.
In a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page Wednesday morning, owners Jody and Sue Ann Lockhart said, “…After lots of prayer and consideration, the Lord has led our family to the decision to rebuild.”Â
The Lockhart family has owned and operated the local restaurant for several decades, which has become a much-beloved eatery by residents of the Sequatchie Valley and locations near and far…known for their savory dishes, often using ingredients grown or raised right on the family’s farm, along with decadent desserts, cakes, cookies, and pies all scratch-made from family recipes.
In the early morning hours of June 25th, 2023, the restaurant succumbed to an electrical fire that resulted in several departments responding in an effort to extinguish the blaze and save the restaurant building. The future of the Cookie Jar Cafe looked uncertain in the hours and days following the fire, but owners say that so many in the community and surrounding areas reached out to help in their time of need and expressed their love and unwavering support, and they made the decision to rebuild and reopen.
If you are interested in helping with this process, the Lockharts say rather than raising funds through crowd-funding (i.e. – GoFundMe), they’ve decided instead to sell digital gift cards through their website that can be used to order your favorite meals or treats once the restaurant is reopened for online orders and in the restaurant. They say the money from those gift cards will hopefully raise enough funds to help pay employees who are displaced from their jobs for the time being following the fire. You can find the link and purchase yours at www.thecookiejarcafe.com.
The Lockharts say they want to thank everyone for their support, and thank everyone who’s able to continue showing their support by purchasing the digital gift cards. They also want to let so many in the public know that all of the animals from the farm’s petting zoo (located on and adjacent to the restaurant building) are safe and none were harmed during the fire.
They say the beginning stages of rebuilding are already underway, including cleanup and work to the building’s interior and they hope to have things back up and running and reopen the restaurant towards the end of the year.
