“We’re shooting to be back open in six weeks,” said Jason Postlethwait, owner of AJ’s Allstar Cafe, looking at the charred remains of what was once the restaurant’s kitchen. “But it may be longer.”
What started as a typical Wednesday morning, November 12, quickly unraveled after a fire broke out in the kitchen.
According to Postlethwait, the morning breakfast rush had just ended.
“When I walked into the kitchen, it was full of smoke,” he said. “I couldn’t see anything.”
Postlethwait, his staff, and his patrons quickly evacuated.
At around 8:20 a.m., the first calls went out to Huntingdon Fire Department.
Flames jetted out of the roof upon their arrival just minutes later.
Dispatchers paged out other fire departments to assist, including Carroll County Districts 1, 4, and 17.
Postlethwait and everyone else watched as firefighters battled the blaze for more than an hour.
He said the reality of the situation didn’t hit until his family showed up.
“When my kids showed up, that’s when it hit me,” he said.
After the Fire
After the smoke finally cleared, things took a positive turn, Postlethwait said.
“I thought it was to the ground,” he said. “But the tables are fine, the chairs are fine, the structure held.”
Postlethwait said an insurance adjuster toured the property Wednesday morning and cleared the rebuild to begin.
He said that he, along with friends and volunteers gutted the damaged areas.
“It’s completely empty now,” he said. “This back half will be rebuilt. The rest just needs cleaned up.”
He hopes to have the café operational again shortly after the new year, depending on materials, inspections, and the availability of contractors.
“I’d love to be open January 1,” he said. “Insurance went really fast, which helped. If we can get two or three good weeks in, we might make it.”
For now, his concern is keeping his longtime staff until the doors reopen.
“I’ve had most of the same crew all eight years, even through COVID,” Postlethwait said.
Vol State
Postlethwait said he’s thankful for his restaurant to remain operating in the same location.
AJ’s sits directly along the route of the “Last Annual Vol State” ultramarathon, and for years has been one of the runners’ favorite places to stop for a hot breakfast during their 314-mile trek across Tennessee.
Postlethwait ran the race himself in 2024, and said the café has become a tradition for many runners who pass through Huntingdon.
During cleanup, he discovered something he never expected: two Vol State shirts that survived the fire almost untouched.
One carries signatures from runners who stopped at AJ’s in 2024 and 2025, and the other is his personal shirt from the race he competed in.
Both had been found in a plastic bag in his office, under melted debris.
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “Everything around them was burned, but those shirts made it. Those signatures, those people. That meant a lot.”
He plans to frame the shirts and hang them inside the rebuilt café.
Postlethwait said the outpouring of support from customers, friends, and the Vol State community has helped keep him focused on the rebuild.
As debris continues to be cleared and contractors line up their schedules, he said he’s ready to move forward.
“We’ll be back,” he said. “This place has been here a long time, and it’s not going anywhere.”
