Alexander's restaurant rebuilding for fall reopening

VIRGINIA BEACH

The little Santa with the broken arm is one of the few survivors.

First, a brutal nor'easter knocked parts of Alexander's on the Bay into the water in November. Then a fire in March gutted the second-floor storage area, home to most of the Santas. Last, vandals trashed the restaurant repeatedly, stealing Christmas cheer through broken windows and gates.

The Chick's Beach landmark on Ocean View Avenue is known for its Santas. Every holiday season, the restaurant displays several thousand of them, and patrons guess the total for charity and a chance to win a gift certificate.

"Most of them were stolen," said co-owner Ali Shafiee, who counts 11 separate break-ins.

He crouched down among the sooty insulation to pick up one of the last few Kris Kringles, a waving one sitting on a fiber-optic train. A small, traditional Santa in a red suit and fur trim lay on the floor nearby. Its right arm was snapped off at the elbow.

"We had so many antiques. I don't know if we can replace all of these."

Despite the devastation, contractors are rebuilding.

Last week, windows were slotted into the gaping holes in the rear wall and pilings were sawed off to support the new deck.

Shafiee said he plans to reopen in August.

The repairs, which include fortifying beach-side walls with concrete and rebuilding the eroded parking lot, will cost Shafiee about $475,000 of his own money, he said. Insurance is covering flood and fire damage but has not so far covered wind damage or inventory lost to theft.

The repaired Alexander's will look much like the old one, with a bar and bay room extending over the beach. A few mirrored room dividers, still streaked with bay water, will be painted and left in place. But a walkway around the building will not be rebuilt because of setback rules, Shafiee said.

The restaurant must also be restocked. Nearly everything inside has been stolen or destroyed. Alcohol that survived the nor'easter was stolen, as were most of the tables, kitchen equipment and even the bar's sound system.

An alcove off the dining room stood empty last week except for an overturned pepper shaker, a rusty tray stand and one black plastic booster seat.

But the employees won't all be back.

Barbara Rice, who was a server at the restaurant for almost four years, just took another job after months of looking.

"It's been very, very rough," said Rice, whose unemployment ran out more than a month ago. At first, she was optimistic about returning to Alexander's quickly, but then the months ticked by.

Former employees began taking other jobs.

"Everybody was really very close. I'm always going to feel close to those people," she said.

But Shafiee, who owns the restaurant with his wife and a friend, vowed to keep on.

"We're going to rebuild. We have hope. We're going to reopen and we're going to make it. I'm positive of that," Shafiee said.

Then he gathered the few remaining Santas and took them out of the restaurant for safekeeping.

Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com