The menu at The Collegiate Grill is just as simple today as it was in 1947 when it originally opened.

Sticking with the basics - like hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and milkshakes - is what owner Jeff Worley says he's committed to do at his restaurant.

"I think it was hamburgers, hot dogs and milkshakes that made The Collegiate great in the beginning," said Worley, who was 12 when he got his first job at the restaurant. "I'm a big fan of simplicity ... our standard is very simple - it's excellence only."

Worley said he's learned to keep focused on simplicity and what his restaurant does well.

"Let somebody else do the rest," he said. "But weren't not going to try and do breakfast and we're not going to try and do salads and barbecue and ribs; there's good places all over town for that. We are going to be the best with the hamburger, hot dog and french fry."

Worley's first job at The Collegiate was preparing Coca-Colas and milkshakes when George and Margene Brown ran the eatery. The duo ran The Collegiate for 38 years.

"It's funny because Mr. Brown had to get a Coke crate and turn it upside down so I could stand on it and reach the Coke fountain," said Worley, who was paid $3.25 an hour for his services in the mid-1980s.

He continued his allegiance to the eatery as a manager when the Holderfields operated the business, and now he and wife Donna Worley have taken the reins.

Worley said he decided to buy The Collegiate in 2008 when he drove by the closed restaurant.

"When I drove by one day and saw that it was shut down, and really it broke my heart," he said. "I thought if someone doesn't reopen that and do it right, that part of Gainesville will be lost forever."

Although, like most restaurant ventures, it was a lot to - er - chew.

"We made a substantial investment in the business portion of trying to get it back original," he said. "It's a big elephant and we are having to bite it one bite at a time; we remind ourselves (of) that every day."

Originally, The Collegiate Grill opened in 1947 on Main Street. Since then, there have been several operators of the restaurant over the years including Tim Bunch, now owner of Longstreet Cafe, who bought The Collegiate in 1995 and sold it two years later.

According to Bunch, he had never eaten there before he bought the business.

"We started out doing breakfast and lunch ... main thing was fresh hamburgers, hot dogs and milkshakes," he said.

Bunch also expanded the original building from a 40-seat restaurant to 100 seats. Beyond the expansion, Worley said much of the location remains the same.

"It was very similar to what it is now," Worley said. "The equipment set-up was slightly different up here ... but believe it or not everything else was the same."

Worley said some of his favorite memories are of the Browns and how they ran the restaurant.

"Mrs. Brown, she was notorious for not writing anything down," he said. "She could remember everything. So they didn't write tickets like we write tickets now. He'd (George) cook on the grill and he remembered everything - she would just call out."

According to Worley, George really had a way with the children who came through his doors.

"He had the long fingers and he'd slide a square (of) caramel under the paper of the kid's food," he said. "He was notorious for that. It was his way of treating the kids if they ate their dinner, it was always where they couldn't see it."

And that kind of old-time atmosphere is what Worley and Donna, who runs the register, are trying to create since opening on Dec. 18.

"We have our ground beef fresh; it is ground fresh every morning," Worley said. "We have a specific cut just for The Collegiate ... I have the cut just for us with the right amount of lean, the right amount of fat."

Worley said the slaw is just like the original and is made for slaw dogs - without sugar. The chili is made fresh without beans, for chili dogs.

The potatoes for the french fries are Idaho potatoes and cut fresh daily.

"You have to cut them and soak them because we have to cut 100 pounds of potatoes just to keep up at rush hour," he said.

Then there's the milkshakes, which aren't exactly identical to George Brown's original milkshakes, but they sure are close, Worley said.

"Mr. Brown actually had a machine and made his own ice cream," Worley said. "We dipped that into a cup and used the spindle and made the milkshake. We don't have the machine that he had anymore ... but we do have Mayfield ice cream."

So, Worley said, Mayfield ice cream substitutes for Brown's original recipe and the milkshakes are hand dipped.

In keeping with the theme of simplicity, there are only three milkshake flavors: strawberry, chocolate and vanilla.

And those basics are what attract Gainesville residents Buddy and Elaine Ralston to The Collegiate. The couple has been eating at the restaurant since they were children, and Elaine said she is just happy the Gainesville mainstay is back for everyone to enjoy.

"There are so many new people coming in, and I think it's important to have a good base ... that they know it's a good place to come, that's been here and has tradition," she said.

Buddy remembers The Collegiate in the 1950s when he would frequent the diner.

"My dad used to give me a dollar and say, ‘Go up to The Collegiate and get us a couple hot dogs,'" he said. "I'd get us two hot dogs for him, two hot dogs for me and an order of french fries and a Coke. I would get 7 cents change from a dollar bill."