Two months ago, Phuong Le faced the possibility of closing his seafood market, but now business is booming.
"I come in every payday and usually take four or five orders back to the office," said Moses McKinzey, a customer who works at a car dealership down the street.
"... This place is at the top of my favorite restaurants, and I think expanding is the best decision Phuong has made so far. Around 12:30 to 1 p.m., this place is standing room only."
On Friday, a few days past what was once a 60-day deadline, construction workers were moving forward with Le's plans to expand the Atlanta Highway Seafood Market and meet city requirements to add public restrooms on site.
After a customer complained in the spring that the market didn't have easily accessible bathrooms, Gainesville officials handed Le a code enforcement citation. With financial stress caused by the Gulf oil spill, Le said he was afraid he couldn't take on the extra project of adding bathrooms without going out of business.
Le visited City Council members in early September to talk about his financial burdens and appeared before Municipal Court Judge Hammond Law on Sept. 9 to talk about the citations. Law found him guilty and charged a $700 fine that would be waived if the construction was completed in 60 days.
Since then, Le has rented the space next door and plans for construction to be completed by mid-December on bathrooms, extra seating space and additional office space.
"With about 10 tables, we'll be able to provide more seating for the older folks who were requesting more places to sit down," Le said. "We'll keep it simple as we can to keep costs down."
Le contacted Law after obtaining construction permits from the city, and Law extended the construction time by 90 days.
"The judge is working with us. We won't need 90 days, but it's great because we won't rush. The bank is working with us, too," Le said. "We were really scared in the beginning, but we're moving forward, and I think this will all turn into something good."
When Le opened the business two years ago, Department of Agriculture officials inspected it and said the business didn't need bathrooms under its restaurant policy because only a small portion of the seafood market provides seating for those who buy a meal and choose to sit there to eat.
However, city and state policies follow the International Plumbing Code for customer facilities, which requires bathrooms for any "structures and tenant spaces intended for public utilization - and the path of travel to such facilities shall not exceed a distance of 500 feet."
The code also states customers can't walk through storage spaces or a kitchen to reach the bathroom. Le's restroom for employees is located behind the kitchen.
On Friday, customers packed the restaurant around lunchtime.
"If you don't get here early, this place fills up fast," said Chip Walton, who stops by the restaurant about twice a month. "I don't know anywhere that has better oysters. It'll be really nice to have more room."