BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — K: Dara Noodle Bar has reopened its doors after a burst pipe forced the popular restaurant in the basement of the Dun Building to close seven weeks ago.
The leak originated in the vacant office space above the restaurant on February 11, flooding the dining area and forcing owner Jennifer Laban to cancel reservations for busy business periods, including Valentine's Day.
Laban describes the scene that day.
"A lot of water, downpour, raining, ceiling coming down, light fixtures falling," she said.
"So all of our tables were damaged, everything on our tables, our linen, numerous liquor bottles, our beer, a couple of our coolers. So we lost basically everything in our front-of-the-house restaurant," Laban said.
Laban and the building owners got to work making repairs, though she doesn't know the total cost of the damage.
"Well, of course, I have great insurance," she said. "So we just got through it. I have great staff, great customers, great support."
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Diners and nearby office workers are thrilled to see the lunch spot open once again.
"As soon as the word went out they had reopened we're just happy to come and support," said Ryan Finkel, a K Dara regular.
"The whole place is packed right now so obviously the word is out which is fabulous," Melinda Markulis said.
"Today we were trying to work out where to go to lunch and I saw it had reopened and I was like 'change of plans, we're going to K: Dara'," Jenna Luehrsen said.
The vacant office space above the restaurant will soon be repurposed. McGuire Development purchased the Dun building in October and plans to convert the upper floors into 36 apartments.
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