A fire closed this popular Myrtle Beach, SC restaurant. Will it re-open in 2024?
The owner of one of Myrtle Beach’s most well-known restaurants says they’ll re-open soon.
Wayne Burkart is the owner of Burky’s Grill, which closed after catching fire in December 2023, and he said the restaurant will be the same as it was before the fire.
“It’s going to be a replica,” Burkart said.
Burkart, who has operated Burky’s since 2003 and previously G.D. Ritzy’s at the same location from 1983 to 2000, said the restaurant was still waiting on city permits and the final determination of what caused the fire before re-opening.
In a Facebook post, Burkart wrote the restaurant could re-open within three months.
“Everybody’s waiting, and it’s gonna happen. Things are in work,” Burkart said. “It will look like Burky’s; it will taste like Burky’s and the people will be the same.”
Burkart, who said he doesn’t know what caused the fire yet, said he and his staff planned on re-opening the day of the fire.
“It wasn’t just me there. My general manager showed up. Some of my employees were there. It was dark. It was cold. It was miserable, but we were all looking at ‘Okay, this is not a defeat,’” he said. “We started planning that day. What do we got to do? How long would it take?”
Burkart added he was working with a company to salvage much of the fire-damaged interior decorations, and he also started paying his 16 staff today, Jan. 12, 2024, while Burky’s was still shuttered.
“I’m not going to let them lose rent or food or car payments, phone. They’ve been with me as much as 30-35 years,” he said. “That is probably the biggest part of our success is lack of turnover, love of the customer and my love of the crew.”
Burkart also said patrons of Burky’s have also shown support since the fire.
“It is a confirmation that we’ve been right for 40 years as I get people that say ‘My parents brought me to G.D. Ritzy’s in the 80s, and through high school, Myrtle Beach High, and then I went to CCU, and then I got married, and now I bring my children to Burky’s and my parents come in with their grandchildren,” Burkart said. “That is an affirmation for me and my crew to, whatever we’re doing, keep doing it.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2024 at 2:10 PM.
