Gyros, salads, Chicago-style hot dogs and more are once again being served the Tom & Jerry’s way, 35 days after the beloved local eatery sustained irreparable damage in an overnight fire.

Saturday morning, Tom & Jerry’s opened from a temporary location at 265 W. Peace Road in Sycamore. Patrons began lining up outside the restaurant at 10:45 a.m., 15 minutes before the restaurant opened for the first time in its temporary location.

General Manager Sarah Meyer said, “Words can’t express how much it means” to have the community’s support.

“The love and support of our community has powered us to keep going, to just come back as quick as we can to serve the community that we love that’s served us so well for so many years,” Meyer said.

Early in the morning Jan. 31, the former Tom & Jerry’s restaurant building, which was located at 1670 DeKalb Ave., was devastated by a fire. A week after the blaze, the restaurant announced in a social media post that it would reopen in a temporary space where the Eggsclusive Cafe was once located.

“We are Tom & Jerry’s strong,” Meyer said.

Over the past five weeks, Meyer and the ownership behind Tom & Jerry’s and Catering by Diann have dealt with the aftermath of the fire. Meyer said that included the intricacies of insurance claims, the logistics of getting a new restaurant space up and running and the efforts required to undertake their planned rebuild.

Their efforts to reopen Tom & Jerry’s were met by dozens of hungry diners at 11 a.m. Saturday.

“The community support has just, it’s – we’ll never be able to say thank you," Meyer said.

Despite being closed for more than a month, Meyer said the restaurant did not part with a single employee it had before the Jan. 31 fire. And she plans on hiring more workers in the near future.

“We have about 35 people on staff right now, total, and we are hiring all positions, so front of house, back of house, cashiers, supervisors, delivery drivers, kitchen,” Meyer said.

Diann Beaulieu, one of the owners of Tom & Jerry’s and Catering by Diann, recently submitted a request to the city of Sycamore to change the zoning code for the property where the torn-down restaurant once stood, according to city records.

Sycamore Director of Community Development John Sauter wrote that Beaulieu’s request would “clean up” what he called “anomalous” zoning along that section of DeKalb Avenue.

Restaurant ownership has not yet indicated a timeline for a rebuild, but as of Saturday Tom & Jerry’s once again was serving food to the Sycamore community.