SUNRISE BEACH, Mo. — The Branding Iron Restaurant and Saloon burned to the ground on Saturday, March 16, but thanks to the tight-knit Lake of the Ozarks community, it is being rebuilt, and could open this fall.

Branding Iron owners, Kelly and Laurie Preator, were in bed sleeping when they were awakened by a sheriff pounding on their door, with the heavy task of telling them their restaurant was on fire. They lost everything. “We were in shock,” Laurie said.

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A stunned community rallied around the couple. Several successful fundraisers benefited their employees and assisted the Preators with the rebuild. Most of the employees have been hired, temporarily, by other restaurants. “We had extraordinarily good employees,” Laurie said. “They plan to come back to us when we open, but we will be looking to hire a few more.”

Unfortunately, the Preators learned their business was underinsured.

“We learned a very valuable lesson and we want to spread the word,” Laurie said. “Check your insurance policy every year. We put a lot of money into the business and we never raised our insurance. The only way we are rebuilding is through the help of the community and Central Bank.” As a result, the rebuild is happening on a tight budget. With little money coming in, they are saving and watching every penny. “We don’t know what all it will take [to get] the restaurant up and running,” she said.

The New Branding Iron

The concrete is ready to be poured for the foundation on the new Branding Iron.

The new restaurant will be nearly 50 percent larger: a 5,000 sq. ft. metal building, compared to a former 3,200 sq. ft. The kitchen will triple in size. There will be inside seating for 110, and an outside deck area will seat another 100. The parking lot will be three times the former size.

The footings are poured, and they are waiting for the plumbing work to get done before they pour the floors. After that, the rest of the concrete will be poured, depending on the weather. “We will have to wait for the concrete to cure so it can be polished, and then we will start building on top,” Laurie explained.

Digging Footings For The Branding Iron

The rebuilt restaurant has a tentative opening date of Oct. 1. That depends on quite a few factors, though, and Laurie said she and Kelly are “impatiently patient.”

“We don’t like sitting around and not doing anything,” Laurie said. “I have never been without work since I was 15. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves, except gain weight and be bored.” Meanwhile, Kelly went back to the good old days, doing karaoke at several area bars.

Unfortunately, there won’t be a cathedral ceiling, like in the old restaurant, but there will still be comfortable booths, and a rustic-western theme. “It used to have a certain nostalgic feel and that is what we are trying to reproduce, on a limited budget,” she said.

“Since we have had more time, we took the opportunity to go and see what other restaurants were doing,” Laurie said. Their successful menu will stay the same. “Why fix something that’s not broken,” Laurie said. The one menu addition: tacos. They'll also be opened seven days a week this time around, rather than closing on Sundays.

“We see everyone out and about, and they tell us they miss us," she said. "Our customers are like family; the same ones were here every day during happy hour. Kelly and I feel it too. It was a place of home and comfort. Everyone felt welcomed, like the Cheers bar, where they said, 'Hey Norm,' when he walked in the door. Only a few more months and we can get back to the same feel!”

Laurie has been very hands-on with the new building project, and many of their regular customers are helping with work on the building. “We can’t afford a general contractor, so I have to say 'Thank you' to all of our friends and everyone who gave us great deals, like Rice Concrete, A1 Plumbing, Home Designs, Reinhold Electric, Rescue 1 Construction, Frontier Metal, Magruder Quarry and Matt Sutcliffe. Matt has been out here every day for a month digging the foundation. He has worked relentlessly trying to keep us on track. Everyone has been amazing!”

Paying It Forward

“We have tried since the beginning to pay it forward, because we knew how lucky we were to have such a successful business,” Laurie said. “To have the community recognize that and help us as much as they could, has been mind-boggling. I don’t know how we could ever repay that, ever. I am speechless. I think back to the days after the fire and of the traffic and the people. The outpouring of love was unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it and we are blessed to be the recipients. It was overwhelming, since we are not comfortable taking, we have always wanted to be the one giving.”

They plan to continue paying it forward, by offering a free Thanksgiving Dinner on Thanksgiving Day. “We know there are those in the community that don’t get to be with their family at Thanksgiving,” Laurie said. They served close to 200 people in 2018. They also will continue the Golf Tournament for the Christmas Angels program, where they raise funds for special-needs children and adults. They make sure they have a Christmas party, a visit from Santa, gifts and Christmas dinner. Any left-over money raised by the tournament is given to the Share the Harvest Food Pantry and Habitat for Humanity.

Watch the Branding Iron Facebook Page for their grand opening date.

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