Charles Stotts, the co-owner of Town Talk Diner and Gastropub, barely slept as he waited for the sun to rise so he could return safely to his Longfellow eatery Thursday morning and assess the damage after a night of violence and looting.
"We got there, and it was so much worse than I could have imagined," he said.
Several restaurants are located in the area where unrest broke out Wednesday night after earlier protests over the death of George Floyd. Owners of Gandhi Mahal, Midori's Floating World Cafe and El Nuevo Rodeo, which are located at the same corner as Town Talk, about two blocks from the Third Precinct of the police department, were not immediately available for comment Thursday morning.
Town Talk Diner and Gastropub, with its historically landmarked sign, has been closed for on-premise dining since March 17 due to the coronavirus. Stotts was planning to reopen June 1 with sidewalk seating. "Sadly, that's going to be on hold a little bit," he said. Already facing setbacks from the pandemic, and now the riots, a "rattled" Stotts said 2020 is shaping up to be the "hardest of the hard."
He spoke to the Star Tribune about what unfolded at his business last night, and what he saw when he got there this morning.
Q: Can you describe the damage to the restaurant?
A: I'll be honest, my head is spinning a little bit. It was so much worse than I could have imagined. All our windows are heavily damaged and the sprinkler system is still engaged. So apparently, there must have been enough heat or fire that engaged the sprinkler system. There are several inches of water in my building. The dining room looks like it was hit by a wrecking ball. The bar was heavily looted. Lots of broken bottles, broken glass, and in our basement, the maintenance guy said it's more than waist deep. There's a lot to clean up, and there's a lot to put back together.
We called our insurance person, and he reassured me we have the right insurance in place. It'll be a long, hard process to replace, but replacement will be the goal.
