Driver crashes into South Philadelphia restaurant
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A South Philadelphia restaurant reopened for business just hours after a vehicle crashed through its storefront overnight, according to the owner.
Carlos Gomez, owner of La Catrachita, said he was alerted to the damage around 3 a.m. after receiving a message from his landlord. Surveillance cameras at the restaurant captured the crash.
"We don't have a drive-thru! Because they want to come eat tacos inside," Gomez joked. "It's funny now, but in the moment I was afraid, scared because I don't know exactly what happened in the moment," Gomez said.
Gomez said he later received calls and text messages from people checking on him and the business.
"A lot of people text me or call me, they say, you okay? I say, yeah, we're okay. Thank god everybody okay," he said.
The restaurant is located in a shopping center off Christopher Columbus Boulevard in South Philadelphia. It used to be open 24 hours a day; Gomez said he was thankful that is no longer the case.
"It's good nobody got hurt, but it's something we can fix, and we have to fix it, ya know," Gomez said.
Action News reached out to Philadelphia police about whether the driver was arrested and whether anyone in the vehicle was injured. We are waiting to hear back.
Gomez said insurance should cover the damage. He said his father-in-law built a temporary storefront at about 6 a.m., allowing the restaurant to remain open for the weekend.
"You can come in; it's temporary, we do construction, ya know," Gomez said.
Customers said they were impressed by how quickly the business recovered.
"That was crazy! I would've thought this happened like a few days ago since everything was built out," said Jewel Moser of Fishtown.
"It's insane; this was like my pregnancy craving when I was pregnant with this one, so I love it here. It's crazy that they're open so fast," said Liz Marie Salcedo.
Police say the driver fled the scene, and there are no reports of any injuries.
