The Players
David Rabil, owner, operator and son of the restaurant’s founder, Fred Rabil.

The Problem
Last September, rains from Hurricane Floyd caused the Blackwater River to flood and ruin Franklin’s downtown business district, including David Rabil’s restaurant. He had to rebuild, but more to the point, he had to figure out how to make a living until his business was back on its feet.

The Background
Fred’s Restaurant is a Franklin institution that opened as a bakery in 1945. It became a restaurant about 25 years ago. It’s in a two-story red brick building across from the police and fire stations. The lunch crowd brings in locals, merchants, politicians and professionals. "It’s kind of an unofficial chamber of commerce," says David Rabil, 46. The menu is "good, old home cooking."

The rains hit on Sept. 16, drenching southeastern Virginia and North Carolina. When Rabil checked on his restaurant two days later, the water was two feet deep. It eventually reached four feet, coming in so slowly that it lifted the restaurant’s big oak tables and moved them around without disturbing the place mats. But the water ruined everything — kitchen equipment, furniture and the wooden floor. "It was mud, it was muck. Plus, I had two big deep fryers with oil in them," Rabil says. Those overturned. The first time Rabil walked back into the building after the flood, "all I could do was stand there. It was awful. It just wiped us out."

The Solution
Rabil is working with the Small Business Administration on a loan to cover the reconstruction work, which is already under way. But he still needed income, so he started providing the only restaurant service he could — catering.

The old Fred’s had a banquet area on the second floor, and local organizations regularly used the room to host events. The Rotary Club held meetings there every Friday. The Chamber of Commerce was a regular client, too. Rabil told clients he was still in business, as long as he could find a different space.

During the past few months, Rabil has catered events for local businesses — such as Crestar Bank and GTE — and for community groups. He has used city parks, private homes and the local American Legion Hall. St. Jude Catholic Church, where he is a member, has been letting him use space there on Fridays for Rotary meetings. Sometimes he has kitchen space; sometimes he has to work out of his own house.

Rabil is not getting rich, but he’s getting by. And he’s keeping himself busy while he makes plans to get back to the restaurant business. Workers poured a new concrete floor for the restaurant in December, and Rabil hopes to reopen in February. His 18 employees "all assure me they’re coming back," he says. He’s taking the opportunity to expand, too, by adding a new banquet room in an empty lot next to the restaurant. That new space will bring in more revenue, which he’ll need to pay off his loan. "We’re looking for things to be bigger and better," he says. "Actually it’s turned into a good opportunity for us to do things that we were thinking about doing."

The flood affected about 180 businesses, but several have reopened, including a couple of retail shops that did a brisk pre-Christmas business. Rabil says he and his father never considered giving up. "This is home," he says. "This is where we’re coming back."

If you have a case study in small-business problem solving, e-mail llarance@va-business.com.