GREENSBORO, N.C. — Thousands of people lost power for hours in Greensboro Friday morning.
The outage lasted about three hours, and a representative for Duke Energy said the cause was an equipment malfunction.
The outage impacted several businesses, including Jake's Diner on West Wendover Avenue.
"We had a restaurant full of people. Then there's nothing you can do except finish orders and tell people the power is out," manager Courtney Pierce said, "I turned away a lot of business today; a lot of regulars." Pierce said.
She said the restaurant has an inside joke about staying open, but this month tested their patience.
"We've always joked that we don't ever close even if snows. Unless the power goes out, and in the six years I've been here, the power has gone out three times, and it was all this month," Pierce said.
When the power went out, she said Jake's Diner had to switch to autopilot.
"We all just went into flight mode. The computer system goes down, so you have to accept cash payments, and it's a lot," Pierce said.
After the power went out and came back on, Piece said they switched to drive-thru only.
Some loyal customers said they were in the right place at the right time.
"When we showed up, the door was still locked because of the power outage. They let us in, so it's good to know that we didn't have to change our plans," customer Samuel Collins said.
He said his family comes to Jake's Diner weekly.
"I'm working my way through the menu, but I like pretty much everything I've tried here. Dad always gets breakfast. We just like the food, it's really good," Collins said.
Jake's Diner said their customers are a priority.
"We wouldn't be here without our customers. We love our customers, we love everyone who comes into Jake's Diner," Pierce said.
Duke Energy gave the all-clear around 1 p.m. Friday that power was restored to customers.