GAUTIER
RESTAURANTS REOPEN

William Colgin/The Mississippi Press

Barnhill's open, Huck's to open this week

by Joy E. Stodghill
The Mississippi Press

Don and JoAnn Woroner, owners of Huck's, left a debris line on the roof of the restaurant to show how high the waves got as Hurricane Katrina pounded their eatery.

"It was just full of mud. We had to raise the decks back up out of the river," said Don Woroner.

After almost six months of hard labor, they are ready to reopen.

"We've been here seven days a week," said JoAnn Woroner.

She called the restoration she and her husband have done, a "labor of love." They said they will open March 1 with a limited menu and full bar. JoAnn Woroner said they plan to have an official grand reopening celebration with a local band, Nimbleseat, March 4. She said the band will play from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m.

She said they will have giveaways and other entertainment.

The restaurant on the water off Oak Street has been a popular hangout for Northrop Grumman Ship Systems boatbuilders and Navy sailors, as well as other residents and visitors to the Coast, the couple said.

"We're kind of the officer's hangout," said JoAnn Woroner.

Her husband added, "You're liable to meet anybody here."

He said they have been visited by politicians, high-profile attorney Dickie Scruggs and members of Escatawpa's 3 Doors Down. They hope to welcome Jimmy Buffet one day.

Huck's takes inspiration from Buffet and the tropical islands.

"We have tropical music all the time," said JoAnn Woroner.

Zach Giron, bar manager, said the restaurant features bands most Friday and Saturday nights, especially during the summer, providing tropical background music.

"It's great, in June, when the boats pull up," he said. "It's a lot of fun."

Sailors can dock their fishing boats or larger boats up close to the restaurant. Giron said he has seen vessels as large as 36 to 38 feet long. Sometimes, he said, so many boats are tied up, people have to walk from vessel to vessel to reach the deck.

Giron, who has worked at Huck's for three and a half years, is also a fan of the food they serve.

"Our burgers are wonderful," he said.

Gabe Godbold, a local resident and fan of Huck's atmosphere and view of the water, agreed with Giron.

"This place is the local spot where you can get a big burger," he said.

Don Woroner said everything they serve is fresh. He said they have a full service bar, but the focus is the food.

"We're a restaurant that serves liquor, we're not a bar that serves food," he said.

He said they will be adding a few items to the menu when they reopen. Alligator, steak, steak fingers and Australian wines are a few of the additions.

The Woroners have made several changes and improvements to Huck's since they bought it in October 1999 with Don Woroner's brother, Mike.

"Every year we've made it a little bit better," said Don Woroner.

They have added decks, paved the parking lot, expanded parking and added a cover to part of the deck. They enclosed the cover since the hurricane and made it into a new nonsmoking area.

"We did not have the room before," JoAnn Woroner said. "We've been waiting to do this for about four years."

The Woroners anticipate the new area will be popular with customers. They expect their old regular customers and new ones to come when they reopen. Already, they have seen a Huck's fan sliding through the nearby water -- Marley, the alligator, a hurricane survivor.

Giron and a number of other employees will return to the Huck's staff.

"We are very fortunate a lot of our staff are returning. Several others are leaving the jobs they've had in the interim to come back," said Don Woroner.

Don Woroner said the restaurant will be initially be open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

"If the response is good, we will be open seven days (a week)," said JoAnn Woroner.

Huck's is not the only Gautier restaurant to reopen. Barnhill's, on U.S. 90, opened its doors Thursday.

Mary Quinn, manager at Barnhill's, said they had a good deal of damage to their roof and some appliances.

"We've had a great crowd. It's been fantastic," Quinn said Thursday. "Everything looks really good."

She said they put in new carpet and some new appliances.

She said they have added a few items to the menu as well.

"We're trying to give the people what they want," she said