Cafe Roma Rises from the Ashes (Literally), Plans to Reopen November 2013! The Owner has created his Own Kickstarter-Type Program...Help Make it Happen!

August 20, 2013 Vickery Hill

Work is well underway for the New Cafe Roma

As many of you know, this past spring Cafe Roma experienced a devastating fire that essentially gutted the very popular Cruz Bay restaurant. This happened right after the owner, John Hiebert, was awarded the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center's 'St John Small Business Owner of the Year' award! After the fire, John was down but not out. He has worked tirelessly to rebuild his beloved restaurant. Insurance helped defray some of the costs but left a huge gap in the funding needed to purchase equipment and furnishings for the new space. Being the creative - and determined - guy that he is John has developed his own 'Kickstarter' type funding program. Read his announcement from his Facebook page, and if you love St John, 'the world greatest pizza', or just a really determined guy find your level of giving and support this worthwhile effort!

Straight from John's Facebook page:

This year has been a roller coaster ride for everyone involved with Café Roma and with great support the opening is planned for this fall during November 2013. There is still much to be done before the opening and we are offering great promotions for locals and island visitors. We are close to having the capital needed to complete the project. We do have a ways to go. So please take advantage of the offers below and SHARE this page.

The build out is not yet complete and funding is still ongoing. We have raised a great portion of what is needed, but we still need to buy more kitchen equipment, food, wine, liquor and beer inventory to open. There is also painting, wine rack, kitchen shelving, cabinetry, and the bar build out to complete. In order to help reach our funding goal, we are offering some creative ways for patrons, old and new, to contribute and be part of the historic rebuild. “Since we fell in love with the island on our honeymoon, and this tragic event happened on our wedding anniversary, we decided the promotion had to be love and special event themed. Since many people come to St John to celebrate special events such as weddings, birthdays, couples vacations, and anniversaries they should come celebrate at Café Roma.”

Café Roma is offering the following promotions to people who want to help finish the rebuild and celebrate something special at our location. You can contact John at CafeRomaStJohn@aol.com to plan and schedule your donation and special event.

$100- 1 free large pizza and bottle of house wine.

$250- Dinner for 2. Includes 2 entrees, 2 salads, a bottle of house wine, and a dessert.

$500- Your name engraved on a chair plaque plus everything included in the $250 package.

$750- A menu item will be named after you on the new menu plus everything included in the $500 package.

$1,000- Guaranteed reservations for up to 4 people for one year plus two of everything included in the $250 package. You will also receive 10% off up to 2 people for life.

$2,500- Restaurant dinner for 10 guests. Your choice of entrees, appetizers, salads, desserts and an open bar. You will also receive your name engraved on a chair plaque and 15% off up to 2 people for life.

$5,000- Restaurant dinner buyout for up to 25 guests. Your choice of entrees, appetizers, salads, desserts and an open bar. Your name engraved on a chair plaque and 20% off up to 2 people for life.

$8,500- Restaurant dinner buyout for up to 40 guests. Your choice of entrees, appetizers, salads, desserts and an open bar. Your name engraved on a chair plaque and 20% off up to 4 people for life.

** Discounts for life are dine-in only and non-transferable.

This is what the restaurant looked like just a few months ago: