Loyal customers rescue restaurant they love

The Pizza Palace on Hope Mills Road in Fayetteville, NC, is not a franchise. It's been a family-owned Italian restaurant for 33 years. But business dropped off last summer when Hope Mills Road was torn up. Street access was very limited. With hardly any customers, the eatery could barely make payroll. Maybe the owners would need to get a second mortgage to survive? Finally they shared their concern on their Facebook page.

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"July 7 -- This is our current situation. There is only one entrance and one exit. To go orders can still be made, but we ask that instead of paying and picking up the food through the window, you come inside and get it or we can bring it out to you. Please join us in praying that this (road work) will be done as soon as possible. We know that God is in control and we are trusting in Him."

The message was shared 2,000 times on Facebook and business picked up so fast that the restaurant almost ran out of food! Tammy Brown, who's been waiting tables there for 22 years, nearly cried when she saw so many customers. "It's been non-stop," she said. "God's got it all under control." One customer, Katherine Lewis, came for a meal after hearing of the restaurant's plight. "We're compassionate and caring," she said of the Fayetteville community. Thomas Poulos, who opened the Pizza Palace in 1982, had been reluctant to share his concerns with the public, but came from the kitchen to thank his loyal customers, blowing a kiss in the air.