Gringo’s Mexican Kitchen among business along Cypresswood to reopen after flood damage.
Thursday, December 28, 2017 | By: Mayra Cruz, mayra.cruz@chron.com
When nearly four feet of water entered the restaurant Gringo’s Mexican Kitchen in late August due to Hurricane Harvey, franchisee Joel Perkins didn’t know what to do.
After undergoing remediation and renovations, Gringo’s finally reopened on Dec. 12 as the neighboring businesses continue to repair efforts.
“It was complete devastation,” Perkins said when he first arrived at Gringo’s during the flood. “It was surreal. It was nothing like being in our restaurant. The dirty water, the smell.”
When the water lowered enough for him to leave his home in Magnolia, Perkins headed over to the locations in Champions and found Cypresswood Drive completely underwater.
Once he was able to cross the street on a canoe assisted by a jet ski due to the powerful current, he and his son-in-law were unable to enter the restaurant. They could only peek inside through the windows.
“If you can just imagine all of this turned over and everything thrown in different directions. It was awful. It was hard to process,” Perkins said.
While he surveyed the damage, Perkins said he wasn’t sure about the next step to take. Just five days before Harvey hit, he had opened another Gringo’s location in The Woodlands.
Everything from the furniture to the appliances to the plates and cups – all of it would have to be tossed out.
Harvey’s rising floodwaters damaged homes, buildings and businesses alike along Cypresswood, forcing people out of their homes and preventing them from working.
Beside Gringo’s, the Justice of the Peace Court for Precinct 4, Place 1 also flooded, with three to four feet of water, forcing personnel from the Pct. 4 Constable’s Office and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office to evacuate the building.
In October, Pct 4. Constable Mark Herman returned to the building in a makeshift office to dispatch deputies.
In the following block east of the courthouse, the Barbara Bush Library and the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Art also closed due to flood damage. All three buildings are currently under repair.
Other natural disasters, such as the Tax Day and Memorial Day floods in previous years had not affected the restaurant, Perkins said.
While a remodeling project had been planned to update the restaurant, the flooding forced him to do it sooner.
While tearing out the damaged drywall, the restaurant also got rid of waterlogged appliances, soaked furniture, plates, cups and silverware to prevent workers and customers from coming in contact with contaminated items.
“There was very little salvageable,” Perkins said.
The repairs and renovations wound up costing approximately $1.2 million, he said.
Mostly, he was motivated to reopen so that the staff could return to the restaurant before the end of the year. While it was closed, workers had scattered to work in other franchise locations.
“Champions is home,” workers told him.
The restaurant began by only serving dinner and will return to full service hours on Jan. 2.
Across the street from Gringo’s, pizzeria Mellow Mushroom announced on Facebook that it would reopen in mid-January, although no specific date has been set.
Perkins said that the Italian restaurant Hasta la Pasta is still undergoing repairs. Attempts to reach the owners of Hasta la Pasta were unsuccessful.
