KILGORE — Repairs were underway this past week at Brigitta’s Hungarian Restaurant on Texas 31 in Kilgore after a severe storm tore the roof off the building.
Co-owner Mike Chubboy was atop the restaurant Wednesday morning alongside a work crew from AmVet Roofing.
The damage was not as bad as initially believed, he said.
“There was not much rain from the storm. If it had been raining, we would have been destroyed,” he said, noting damage inside the restaurant was minimal.
Chubboy said he did not have insurance for the damage and got repair quotes from about 10 companies before choosing AmVet.
A friend has set up a GoFundMe to raise funds to cover the cost of repairs, which can be found at gofund.me/beb83d7d .
Donations have come in from the Kilgore area and across the United States, Chubboy said.
Clean-up after the storm took place in several stages. All of the damaged metal roofing sheets, some of which had been blown clear of the restaurant and landed in the parking lot, had to be collected and removed.
Also, Chubboy typically makes kitchen preparations on Thursday for the Friday rush, and when the storm struck the evening of March 2, a great deal of food was ruined. Salvageable food was donated to other local restaurants, he said, and what could not be saved had to be thrown away.
The restaurant will have to be inspected after repairs have been completed before it can reopen.
“The inspector will be coming next Wednesday, and after that we can reopen if we pass inspection,” Chubboy said.
