ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The sudden closure of Dexter's restaurant in Thornton Park has left dozens of employees out of work and customers wondering why.
Pretty much everyone who has stopped by to dine at the popular eatery knows Ronnie Outlaw.
His former boss Drew Weisner said Outlaw has been a prep cook at the restaurant since 1994.
"Anybody who has ever gone into a Dexter's in Thornton Park in the last 25 years has had one of Ronnie's salad dressings, one of his soups stuff that he has prepared from A-Z," said Weisner.
Outlaw is legally blind and said his disability took a lot of opportunities away from him until he was hired at Dexter's more than two decades ago.
"The old owner of the place took me on and hired me and a lot of companies wouldn't have hired me because of my disability," Outlaw said.
On Monday, he said he and about 40 employees were let go and told the restaurant was shutting its doors.
Daniel Savage who has worked with Outlaw for more than a decade said he was upset when he heard the restaurant was closing.
"I knew that I would find a job and I knew that everyone else would but I was extremely worried about, what would happen to Ronnie," Savage said.
Outlaw's plight went public after Savage posted a GoFundMe account sharing Ronnie's story in hopes to help him through the unexpected hardship. Outlaw admits he is worried but not down.
"Best case scenario is I get back in the kitchen again, because that is what I have been doing all my life and I love it and it's basically been my career," Outlaw said.