Cheers to Granada’s reopening

There’s been too many stories in recent years of businesses folding, of employees left to scramble for another career while standing in the unemployment line.

It could have been the case again when Alfredo’s Granada restaurant on Victory Boulevard, a landmark for nearly 40 years, closed under the weight of bankruptcy about eight months ago. But an all too familiar story took an unexpected turn when a group of employees pooled their resources and became Granada Restaurant Employees Inc.

On March 30, a U.S. bankruptcy judge approved their purchase of the restaurant for $85,000, and on Monday, the employees reopened the landmark as the Granada.

“Almost all the employees are coming to work again,” said longtime waiter Sergio Ugalde, who is now part owner of the restaurant. “The people don’t want to miss anything. They want to see all the faces.”

They also want to see courage and gumption in the face of dire straits at a time when the recession has been billowing one depressing story after another.

So thank you to the employees of the Granada who had something else to offer other than defeat. And now it’s up to the city to patronize what is truly a budding success story.