When the iconic Denver Diner re-opens at the end of the month after nearly a year, longtime customers will find familiarity, and perhaps comfort, in the antique cash register and old-school pie case.

The “Denver Diner” neon sign will still lure passersby, but new equipment, lighting, flooring and duct work inside is ready to impress patrons. And don’t forget the liquor license.

The wait is almost over, said Konstantine Skordos, whose family has owned the diner since 1990.

“It’s taken a toll — no one working,” Skordos said. “Everybody’s been going crazy.”

The diner employed 35 people when a hood fire in the kitchen spread into the roof system of the building last October. A “now hiring” sign went up this week. A grand reopening is scheduled for Sept. 28.

The reopened diner likely will employ roughly the same number of workers, with about 30 percent of the prior employees coming back, Skordos said.

The longtime Denver business will still be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 364 days a year, closed only on Christmas. Its late-night, early-morning hours — and busy location, near the intersection of West Colfax Avenue and Speer Boulevard — keeps the diner humming with a wide array of customers and characters.

In 2009, a disturbance broke out at the restaurant, ending with four women being pepper-sprayed, beaten and dragged by police officers outside the diner. The women sued the police department and the city, eventually sharing a $360,000 settlement.

But most of the 2,000 patrons the diner serves on a busy day are like Skip Weller.

The Greenwood Village resident visits downtown Denver regularly on business. He works in advertising and frequently drops in to the diner.

“It’s great,” Weller said, raving about fresh salads and a blue cheese dressing that he’s not been able to duplicate at home.

Weller’s been missing his favorite spot and dropped in about three weeks ago to check on the progress.

“It looks cool — it’s been completely gutted. It looks pretty neat,” he said. “I’m excited about it.”

New refrigerators, new dishwashers, new paint, counter tops, remodeled bathrooms and everything else that was refurbished or replaced added up to about a $1.4 million remodel, Skordos said.

Wait staff will use a new “point of sale system” to fill orders. Gone will be the old paper tickets hanging in front of cooks, replaced by digital orders and information. And cooks will have eight burners instead of four.

“It’s going to be a lot more user friendly for everybody,” Skordos said.

There will be some new dishes on the five-page, 110-item menu, including creamy Cajun chicken pasta and shrimp.

Also new when the diner reopens will be liquor, beer and wine sales, Skordos said. There was no opposition to the liquor license during the procurement process, he added.

Colorado craft beers and local spirits will be the prominent offerings.

Two 70-inch television screens will entertain diners while they mingle over meals, and another big screen sits above a waiting area at the entryway.

The original cash register will be displayed as a conversation piece. It came with the diner when George Skordos, Kosta’s father, bought the business in 1990 from the White Spot chain, which had operated on the site since the mid-1960s.

“We tried to keep it a little ‘dinerized’ — we are the Denver Diner — but we modernized,” Skordos said.

Also included in the price tag is a new hood system that will automatically detect and douse any fire that threatens to creep where it shouldn’t.

Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kierannicholson