Gilbert Rexhepi, co-owner of D&G Deli and Grill Downtown on East Bay Street, was open for business as usual Tuesday.
He said he heard predictions that the St. Johns River would flood Downtown on Monday, and was worried, so he went to the restaurant at the Blackstone Building about 4 p.m. to find out if it was damaged.
“By that time, the water was going down and we were completely dry,” he said. “We opened as usual Tuesday morning and people were happy to see our lights on.”
Fionn MacCool’s General Manager Paul Glaser was at the Irish pub and restaurant at the Jacksonville Landing on Tuesday morning making sure he and the staff would be able to open for lunch on Wednesday.
He said no water entered the building on Monday during the Downtown flooding.
“We were very lucky,” he said. “We could have opened today, but we wanted to give our staff time at their homes if they needed to be recovering from the hurricane.”
Tuesday morning, Independent Drive near the JAX Chamber building was still covered with about an inch of water and St. Johns River silt, left over from the river overflowing its banks on Monday.
The Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront is getting a redecorated lobby after the St. Johns River overflowed its banks on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, the carpet and fixtures were being removed and water was still being pumped from the building onto Newnan Street.
A worker said the lobby will be closed until at least Saturday.
