Less than two days after the Department of Revenue changed the locks and posted seizure signs in the windows of the Mattapoisett Chowder House due to nonpayment of taxes, the doors are set to open once again.

Owner Mark Koran said the restaurant would be back in full operation with the chef and staff at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

"We were completely caught off-guard," said Koran.

On Tuesday, customers reported that State Police were on the scene, and Maryann Merigan of the Department of Revenue confirmed that the restaurant was seized after failure to pay $58,826 in taxes.

She said that amount, from meals and withholding taxes, has piled up since August 2011. Merigan said Koran would have received many notices from her department before the seizure.

The owner, said Merigan, "has the ability to pay it off in total or work out a payment agreement that is acceptable to the Department of Revenue.

In an email she added, "DOR will work with the owner to try to get the place re-opened. Our goal is not to be auctioned," said Merigan.

On Thursday, Koran said a past payment had been "misapplied."

"After I talked with them about it, it was good," said Koran. "That's why it was so quickly turned around."

The restaurant first opened in the 1970s and was later purchased by Koran. It has been in the current location at 76 Fairhaven Road since 2004.