PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A South Philadelphia restaurant reopened for business just hours after a vehicle crashed through its storefront overnight, according to the owner.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
Gomez said he later received calls and text messages from people checking on him and the business.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“It’s good nobody got hurt, but it’s something we can fix, and we have to fix it, ya know,” Gomez said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“You can come in; it’s temporary, we do construction, ya know,” Gomez said.<\/p>\n
Customers said they were impressed by how quickly the business recovered.<\/p>\n
“That was crazy! I would’ve thought this happened like a few days ago since everything was built out,” said Jewel Moser of Fishtown.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
Police say the driver fled the scene, and there are no reports of any injuries.<\/p>\n
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