Customers rally around popular restaurant vandalized in Montgomery County
Popular restaurant vandalized encouraged to remain open by hundreds of customers
A Montgomery County community is rallying around a beloved burger joint after it was hit by vandals. The owner says he thought he would have to shut the restaurant down for good, but that business is expected to survive the setback.
CHELTENHAM, Pa. - A Montgomery County community is rallying around a beloved burger joint after it was hit by vandals. The owner says he thought he would have to shut the restaurant down for good, but that business is expected to survive the setback.
Kumony McFarland, who everyone calls Q, came upon a mess after he received a call Wednesday morning that his cult craving beloved Cheltenham homemade food restaurant, Da Burger Jawn, was broken into.
He posted video of the broken glass and outrageous wreckage on Instagram, saying it was the icing on the cake and making him want to call it quits after all the long hours and hard work.
"Did this wanna make you quit and give up?" FOX 29’s Steve Keeley asked.
"Yes, I work hard. I just try to support my kids, my family and bring something different to the community and for you to get a call at seven o’clock in the morning, letting you know your store’s been broken into – you see all the glass and everything I gotta clean up the debris and see what was taken and what wasn’t taken," Q explained. "I was just at my breaking pint. I wanted to give up. I didn’t want the headache of dealing with this."
He continued, "It’s a lot, trying to do a restaurant now the food prices going up. I was just like, ‘I’m done, I’m done.’"
But, after a horrible start of the day seeing the worst in people and letting everyone know why he wouldn’t be open Wednesday or anymore, a sudden flood of encouragement broke through online, on the phone and in person, all of whom told Kumony how much his food mattered to them, how much his growing business meant, with Mike Jerrick featuring the restaurant on FOX 29 earlier this year and how much his Cheltenham community matters with all the jobs he’s created.
He said the recurring theme was this, "Listen man, you can’t give up, you know what I’m saying? You got good food. We gotta make this happen. What can we do?"
A friend came up from Delaware to fix the front door, as more messages of encouragement flooded his phone.
"The kids made my day just hearing those people tell me keep at it, don’t give up," Kumony said. "We got a lot of people saying don’t stop the business, we love your food. The right there showed me I’m not in it by myself."