Starfish Café in Bay St. Louis reopens after being closed for 500 days

The Starfish Café has officially reopened today after being closed for 500 days.

The original café shut down over a year ago due to poor business and COVID-19 troubles. The café was then relocated to Highway 603 in Bay St. Louis to signify a new beginning.

The new spot has two floors. The top floor is the restaurant and the bottom floor is the Mary K. Dean Education Center.

This center will be used as a workshop center for people who would like to share ideas and classes to the public. Starfish Café Program Development Director Diana Fillhart said, “A breath of relief and a fresh breath and just the idea that you can overcome whatever knocked you down, and we were down for a long time and there were a lot of dark days where we thought we were probably not going to be able to do this and now we did it.”

The café also runs a program that teaches 16 to 18-year-olds with no work experience job skills in the kitchen. They currently have two students in the program and are looking to expand soon.