“Businesses like this lost countless amounts of money, you can’t understand,” John continued. Now, the commercial real estate market resembled a bad “chef’s recipe,” hardly anyone was willing to mix up a new restaurant business model. The Thomas sisters kept the doors closed, as they contemplated what to do next. With the pandemic, people stayed home, did not eat out, and businesses struggled to find workers. > Fiona is becoming a big sister Cincinnati Zoo announces hippo pregnancyĮven before the pandemic, the Thomas sisters wanted to sell the building which seats almost 300, and open a smaller nugget.

“The only logical thing to do was to close down and try to make the best of what you could,” John said. Never did they think, they would face something that challenging again, but then came COVID. They then sold the restaurant on Keowee to focus on Kettering. Then in 2005, an overnight fire destroyed decades of work, but the Thomas family rebuilt on the very same spot. When his grandfather passed away, John’s aunts took over the restaurants. The family eventually sold their restaurant on Salem Ave. He said his first job was at the Golden Nugget. “I always felt like the most important person in the world because I was beside him,” said John. John Thomas, one of their grandchildren, has wonderful memories of the time he spent sitting in the restaurant’s corner booth with his grandfather. Over the years, the Thomas family opened two more Golden Nuggets, one on Salem Avenue and the other on Keowee Street. Steve Thomas, Rob Lowe Actor Rob Lowe, center, with owner Steve Thomas.

Golden nugget at the golden nugget