More than a year after a fire at Fish in the Neighborhood shuttered the restaurant, the popular Petworth eatery is open and ready to serve the people who helped resurrect it.

Fish in the Hood, as it’s known—owner Bill White, who opened the restaurant in 1998, jokes that the “neighbor” is silent—quietly reopened Oct. 22 with refurbished light fixtures, shelves, and counters that White built, a front window, a steam table to keep food hot, sockets, new fish cases, and more.

White and his wife, son, and daughter also replaced the windows in the seafood restaurant, repainted the walls, installed blue canopies outside, and put out several planters to brighten things up. Yet with all of these changes, the menu remains the same selection of fried and broiled fish, chicken wings, shrimp, crab legs, and sides—and the fried whiting is still the dish people crave.

On Oct. 29, 13 people waited patiently in a crowded line that stretched almost out the door for their food. Several patrons congratulated White and told him it was great to see him back in business.

While White’s excited to be back at work, he’s concerned about the future. He says he has sold his car and is considering auctioning off some antiques to make ends meet.

“It’s refreshing getting open but at the same time … I’ve got a stack of bills I haven’t even opened up yet,” says White, 57. “So I didn’t want to look at it. It makes me feel bad.”

On April 14, 2017, one of the restaurant’s deep fryers ignited and set the front of the eatery on fire, with flames spreading to duct work and the ceiling. Everyone, including White’s stepmother Gina White, who lives in the apartment upstairs, escaped unharmed. The blaze left the restaurant closed for more than a year.

White received money from his insurance company, but it wasn’t enough to cover the costs of the renovation. What’s more, White contends that he and his family took the renovation project on themselves because the contractor who was supposed to do the work didn’t do much at all.

“While we’re waiting, we’ve got to pay bills,” White says, adding that he learned how to do the work by watching YouTube videos.

White turned to his friends, family, and the community for help. A GoFundMe page raised $14,410 out of the $16,000 White requested. He says his stepmother loaned him another $22,000.

A longtime customer also pitched in to help.

Five years ago, White made sweet potato pies as a wedding present for Santana Shabbaz’s wedding. Shabbaz returned the favor and loaned White $3,000. He also helps White by working the counter several days a week.

“I was a customer and we became family,” says Shabbaz, who introduced himself as White’s nephew. “[I said,] ‘Pay me back when you can, just take it. We’ll work something out later.’”

White puts on a strong front and doesn’t like admitting when he needs help. So the District’s enthusiastic response to his struggles has left him feeling overwhelmed.

“The community has been great, but I feel like I want to do something but I don’t have … money to really be able to give back to them you know?,” White says. “So I said ‘White just get open, just don’t worry about paying people back, they just want to see you get open.’ But I want to give some back so right now we’ll just get open, and just try to pay some bills and then we’ll see what happens after that.”

Fish in the Hood is located at 3601 Georgia Ave. NW