Nancy’s Home Cooking is reopening. Eventually.

After seven months and more than $90,000 in fundraising, the community has saved the High Street diner. Exactly when Nancy’s will open is still in question.

Nancy’s, an award-winning, hole-in-the-wall restaurant, has been a Columbus landmark for 38 years. It has been featured on the Food Network four times and is located only a few miles north of the Ohio State campus.

Throughout the years, crowds of regulars have showed up and packed in for their favorite lunch specials and chats with their favorite waitresses. Lines often flowed out the door.

“Nancy’s helped me get through school,” said Marc Johnson, OSU graduate and Nancy’s regular. “It is more than just home-cooked meals. Heck, it even feels like home.”

Despite its popularity, Nancy’s closed on June 1, 2009, due to the financial difficulties of longtime owner Cindy King, who was battling health problems and back taxes.

“That was a sad moment for me,” Johnson said. “It almost completely ruined Mondays for me. I missed the chicken and noodles, and especially the corn bread.”

Many thought it was closed for good until Nancy’s customer Conor Malloy intervened last spring. Malloy started the “Save Nancy’s Home Cooking” Facebook page and held an “overpay day” to rally support for the restaurant.

“We were ready to close it up,” said Rick Hahn, the husband of new co-owner Sheila Hahn, who is Cindy King’s niece. “But then Conor started his Facebook page and then the checks started coming in from all over. We received checks from Hawaii, Alaska and even the U.K. Some alumni from Folkstone, Kent, in the U.K. sent us a check for 300 euros, which is about $500.”

Nancy’s also received support from the local community it has been a part of for nearly four decades. Businesses held fundraisers; the Clintonville Chamber of Commerce collected money in front of the restaurant; firefighters and police helped out; and countless others volunteered time and resources.

“How do you say thank you to this? You can’t just put up a big sign saying ‘thanks.’ The only thing to do was to reopen,” Hahn said.

Since then, many others have volunteered, including a number of local contractors, to get Nancy’s up to code again.

Before it reopens, the restaurant is undergoing some changes. Along with installing new floors and updating electric lines, workers are in the process of installing a new hood and exhaust lines in the restaurant.

“We’re just waiting on the city’s approval,” Hahn said. “Then it’ll be a four-day construction period to finish things up and we’ll be back in business.”

Another addition to the restaurant will be a wall devoted to local soldiers. Otherwise, it will be set up like the Nancy’s of old, with a few changes in the menu. Nancy’s will now serve breakfast from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week, alongside the daily lunch specials. The menu will also expand to include several of the original recipes used at Nancy’s. Hahn said people will especially enjoy the Italian tomato soup.

The service will be largely the same as ever, including King’s presence, just not as owner. The staff will include former members as well as some new faces.

Nancy’s is still accepting donations and volunteers. Visitors are welcome to drop by Nancy’s at 3133 N. High St. to visit and help move things forward.

“Someone is usually here almost every day,” Hahn said. “If the door is unlocked or the light is on, you can stop on by. We are usually here from noon to 4.”