Severe weather blows roof off New Port Richey restaurant

Alessandra Young
·2 min read

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (WFLA) – There have been several reports of storm damage in the New Port Richey area, including a restaurant that had the roofing material blown right off.

Florida Legacy Roofing is out replacing the roof for Zen Kitchen and Bar, with crew members saying they will have the roof replaced by Tuesday night.

“I come here all the time and that’s crazy how it just came down like that,” said Amber Cox, a customer of the restaurant.

The inside of Zen Kitchen and Bar looks different than it did yesterday. There are fans and buckets on the floor, trying to catch the water dripping.

The business is wiping down and sanitizing tables as they clean up from the storms.

“It sucks, we’re trying to get our name out there and trying to get people in the door and now we’re going to have to be closed for I don’t know how many days,” said Victor Wang.

Victor Wang is a partner and chef for the restaurant. He stepped out for a minute and was met with a phone call about the damage.

“I just stepped out the restaurant to run an errand, I got a phone call that said: hey, turn around and come right back, the roof just got ripped off,” he said.

He said he didn’t think it could be that bad because the sun was still out.

Then, I turn around and the sky is gray right over the building and I’m like, okay, I walk in and it’s raining inside,” Wang said.

With the dining room taking the brunt of the damage, the restaurant is temporarily closed to the public. Wang said the kitchen was not damaged.

“We just thought we would hop over here, because this is our favorite restaurant and so, we’re coming here because they moved and our first day over here, now we’re disappointed. I’m so sorry,” said Carol Huff, a regular at Zen.

Wang said they will re-open as soon as possible to continue serving their Asian cuisine.

“Don’t forget about us for the few days that we will be out of operation,” he said.

There were no customers inside the restaurant when the damages occurred.

For re-opening details, the restaurant said to check their social media. They are hoping to re-open again on Thursday, May 26.

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