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From new sheetrock to a new electrical box, owners are replacing all that Sandy destroyed while trying to salvage what they can.

"Hopefully our customers will be happy to see us," said Gargiulo's co-owner Lella Raffaela. "They will always find us with open arms because we love them all."

Nino Russo, a co-owner along with with Raffaela, said the recovery process has been extremely difficult.

"Draining on so many levels," Russo said. "Emotionally, to see everything we had here for so many years in the dumpsters."

Gargiulo's has been a Coney Island institution since 1907. Now Sandy's destruction is part of its history.

"The water didn't come in from the doors," co-owner Louis Russo said. "The floor in the little room on the side exploded and the water came in the from the floor -- not even from the walls. It was amazing."

Another co-owner, Luigi Daniello, said the water rose to at least 7 or 8 feet high.

After losing business throughout all of November, Gargiulo's owners said they didn't want to lose December too. It's one of their busiest months of the year.

Including party rooms, the restaurant holds up to 800 people. It expects to have more than half of the facility up and running.

"We've been here every morning for 30 days from 5:30 in the morning until whatever time we have to do to finish," Luis Russo said.