Eleven months after fire ripped through a family owned Farmington diner, the Styliadis brothers are back in business.

"We didn't advertise anything, we just kinda turned the lights on and word traveled like wildfire. We are packed," longtime Park Place Diner server Tammy Holton said.

"We saw the grand opening sign yesterday and he (my husband) said, ‘The restaurant's back!’" loyal customer Dory McCarrick said.

"Hey! You miss us? Good!" server Elaine Steffenhagan said while giving a customer a hug.

This kind of excitement about a diner reopening is rare, but considering the way Park Place Diner closed last April, it's not surprising.

"I remember it vividly,” owner Alex Styliadis said, “I was downstairs in the office and one of the waitresses came screamin' at the top of the steps and I was like, 'Why are you yellin?' And she's like, ‘There's a fire! There's a fire! Get out!’ I come upstairs and it was roarin'."

Styliadis said the fire was devastating. It started near the ice machine and was ruled accidental. He said the past 11 months of rebuilding were long.

"It's our life. We've been here since 1984, family owned and operated for 26 years, that's all we know, that's all I've done, is in the restaurant business and, I like it," Styliadis said.

It seems his employees do too. Nearly every single one of them returned. The regulars are also back and impressed by the new layout.

"It's gorgeous. It has what I call, class," Almira Bathrick of Canandaigua said.

Almira and her husband were among the last customers rushed out of the diner when it caught fire.

Styliadis said a few finishing touches still need to be made at diner, but for the most part he said he is happy with the way things turned out.

But the secret to the diner's success isn't in its design, or even its famous meat sauce.

Ask anyone there and they'll tell you, it's all about, "The people,” Steffenhagan and Holton said in unison. “Definitely the people, the customers,” Steffenhagan said. “And the people we’ve worked with for so long," Holton added.

And that spirit is something workers and customers agree was worth the wait.

"When we come in they always acknowledge us which is a nice thing. It's very warming when they do that," said McCarrick.

“Farmington missed us and we're glad to be back,” Styliadis said.