Shoney’s and the adjacent Inn of Clanton reopened Monday after being closed since December 2014.

“We are just so glad to be back,” owner Beverly Baker said. “We are truly blessed.”

Beverly and her husband Curtis Baker opened the businesses originally and have recently acquired them after a bankruptcy case involving the former operator forced a temporary closure of the popular local eatery and Inn.

Now, the Bakers are looking forward to a fresh start and are happy to be open to the community.

“When we closed, many people said a part of the community was gone,” Baker said. “We are extremely happy we could bring that part of the community back.”

Baker said visitors to the businesses in the upcoming weeks will notice some changes including a new lobby and updated rooms at the Inn, a new entrance at Shoney’s and new paint colors and most noticeably new telephone numbers.

“That is one thing that we have really been working on is trying to get the word out about our new telephone numbers,” Baker said. “Our existing numbers were on a lot of different things including billboards and pamphlets statewide, so we are trying to get the word out that our numbers have changed.”

With some of the changes taking place, Baker said the ultimate goal is to make the businesses better than what they were before.

“Everyone has worked very hard to bring the standard up, and we want to make this a family atmosphere where people will enjoy coming and want to come back,” Baker said.

There are currently 45 employees at the restaurant and 13 employees at the Inn, many of which returned from previously working at the businesses.

“We were able to have a lot of our employees who previously worked here come back and we are so thankful for that, but we were also able to hire some new employees as well,” Baker said.

Roughly 35 percent of the employees at the businesses are new hires, according to Baker.

“One of the hardest things for us when we closed in December was having to inform the employees a week before Christmas that they didn’t have a job,” Baker said. “That was very hard for all of us and something that we all considered heartbreaking, but we are overjoyed to have many of them back with us. When this place shut down, we were told it would be about a year to reopen, but God has blessed us and we are back.”

Baker said her family considers the businesses part of the family with many of the employees having grown up at the businesses.

“We have some employees who started here when they were teenagers, and we have watched them grow up,” Baker said. “This place is family to us.”

Subtle changes have been made to the restaurant’s menu with many of the familiar items still available.

“Our goal is to offer high quality food that people will enjoy,” Baker said.

The Bakers plan to host an official grand opening in the coming weeks but for now, they enjoy greeting guests who have traveled near and far to the businesses.

“The community has been very supportive, and we are just thrilled to be back in business,” Baker said.

The new telephone number for Shoney’s is (205) 258-5347, and the new telephone number for the Inn of Clanton is (205) 755-7829.