Neither the fire that destroyed McOtto’s restaurant in Anamosa seven months ago or two  restaurants that have opened a stone’s throw away made much difference when the restaurant made its comeback appearance three weeks ago.

Business has been booming since McOtto’s reopened three weeks ago in its old location at 100 Chamber Drive, according to owner John Danneman.

“It’s almost been more than we can handle,”  Danneman said.

An early-morning fire completely destroyed the casual dining restaurant in the early morning hours of Monday, Nov. 1, 2010.  Fortunately, nobody was hurt and McOtto’s was fully insured.

Danneman  said some customers wondered if he would even want to rebuild the restaurant given that the first McDonald’s restaurant in Jones County had recently opened a stone’s throw away, along with a Subway sandwich shop.  Walking away was never even considered, according to Danneman.

“Even before the fire, we were up 11 percent in sales,” said Danneman. It (the new restaurants) literally brings more people to the area.”

The reopening of McOtto’s meant about 70 jobs for Anamosa, most of them part-time jobs held by high school and college-age students.

Manager Kelly Rundall contacted previous employees on Facebook and encouraged them to come back. About 42 out of the 54 who worked at the restaurant before the fire returned. Five managers had mostly gone to work at Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream Parlors that Danneman owns and operates in Monticello, Cascade and Coralville.

McOtto’s sells Happy Joe’s Pizza, but also has a full menu of other food items.

Danneman said the rebuilding process provided opportunities to make the restaurant more efficient and employee-friendly. One of the customer concerns Danneman wanted to address was the amount of time it took customers to be served a lunch. He says the new setup with more staff, an improved kitchen flow, more waiter stations and more credit card terminals will enable customers to get in and out faster.

 The original building had been an Iowa state liquor store before Danneman purchased it and converted it into a restaurant in 1984. About 10 years ago, it was expanded.

The employees and managers provided so much experience that Danneman, who lives south of Dubuque, confidently took off on his annual fly-in fishing trip to Canada shortly after McOtto’s reopened. He was truly pleased to have so many employees back from before the fire, and wanted the rebuilt McOtto’s to make their jobs easier.

“Thirty years ago when I started out in this business, food was the number one expense,” Danneman said.

Labor is now the most expensive part of running a restaurant, Danneman said, so enabling employees to work efficiently is a good investment. He said the improvements in areas such as more waiter stations and credit card terminals, and a better customer flow pattern, should also reduce the amount of stress employees endurer and therefore improve the customer experience.

Danneman said McOtto’s tries attract and keep good younger workers by providing them with free meals when they’re on shift and discounts when they bring friends and family. He also tries to be flexible in allowing employees to schedule shifts around their other activities.

“In a small town, you live and die by how you treat your customers and your employees,” Danneman said. “If you don’t burn any bridges and your employees enjoyed working for this establishment, it’s a good thing.”

The rebuilding of McOtto’s also included the addition of a party room at the back of the restaurant with a divider that can be used to split the space for large or small groups, and more booths and tables capable of seating larger parties of six or more.

The State Fire Marshall’s Office investigated the cause of the McOtto’s fire, but officials said damage was so extensive that a specific cause could not be determined.