I can have lunch at the Beauty Shop and that’s another marker that life is returning to normal, that this piece of the world at least is getting back to the business of getting by.

Did you know how much you were going to miss your favorite restaurants? Several times, as folks have reopened during the past year, I’ve felt like I was visiting an old friend when I walked back through the doors.

New Eats: Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria

And so it was on Feb. 8 at Beauty Shop, which reopened for lunch for the first time since it closed for COVID. Owner Karen Carrier has had the popular Cooper-Young restaurant open for dinner for months, and has modified more than anyone in town.

First she opened all her dining places at the corner of Cooper and Young under the umbrella of the Beauty Shop, offering its menu at Bar DKDC and Back Do/Mi Yard. She added plastic geodesic domes out back last summer to provide private air-conditioned seating and separated tables in DKDC with curtains. When the cold moved in, she put greenhouses on the front sidewalk, each with a tiny heater, to give people a warm place to dine privately and outside.

New Eats: Little Bettie

In September, Carrier opened Hazel’s Lucky Dice Delicatessen, a takeout-only Jewish deli that served sandwiches and more for lunch only. It’s gone, with the reopening of Beauty Shop for lunch, but here’s the good news: There’s a section of the menu with Hazel’s favorites on it, so you can still get oy vey fries, the Ronzo, roast beef on weck (love it) and other sandwiches.

But on Monday we went for Beauty Shop food, in particular, for the Thai Cobb salad, my favorite in town. Here’s the lineup: Crispy duck, romaine, tomato, green beans, slivers of dried beef, mango, hard-boiled egg, avocado, gouda and green goddess dressing.

New Eats: City Silo in Saddle Creek

It’s fabulous and while not exactly virtuous, it’s also not bad for me. There’s some protein, green vegetables, tropical fruit, and good fat from the avocado. It was a chilly day, and I was tempted by the matzo ball soup and grilled cheese, even more so because a friend also dining in raved over it when I walked by, but that’ll be for another day.

The Jamaican jerk fish club is a hearty and well-composed sandwich, served on thick toast with thin house-made chips. The fillet is highly seasoned; you either like jerk seasoning or you don’t and this isn’t the place to dip your toe in the water. Carrier visits Jamaica frequently and she brings the flavor. There’s plenty of bacon and a medley of fresh greens on the sandwich, including mint.

New Eats: Belly Acres in Regalia

We sat in a booth, where I’ve felt safe during COVID as they’re well separated. We visited, ate, and talked meals eaten there in the past and those to come. With many restaurants closed for lunch and even more closed just for Mondays, it’s nice to see an old favorite back.

Beauty Shop, 966 Cooper, is open for lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Friday and dinner, Monday through Saturday 5-10 p.m., brunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday. Call 901-272-7111.