Brigitta's Hungarian Restaurant in Kilgore plans to reopen after roof repair

Reporter

I'm an East Texas native with degrees from University of North Texas and Kilgore College. I've been reporting and taking photographs for Kilgore News Herald since May 2018. Telling the story of a growing and changing community is the best part of my job.

Brigitta’s Hungarian Restaurant on Texas 31 in Kilgore was being repaired this week after a severe storm tore the roof off of the building.

Co-owner Mike Chubboy was atop the restaurant Wednesday morning alongside a work crew from local company AmVet Roofing.

The damage was not as bad as they initially thought, 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.

The work crew arrived about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, he said, and had removed the damaged portions and nearly replaced all the missing roofing metal by noon.

Chubboy said he did not have insurance coverage for the damage and got repair quotes from about 10 different companies before choosing AmVet. A close friend had set up a GoFundMe to raise donations to cover the cost of repairs, which can be found at https://gofund.me/beb83d7d.

Donations had come in from the local area and all across the United States, Chubboy said.

The 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 last Thursday, a great deal of food items were ruined. Salvageable food was donated to other local restaurants, he said, and what could not be saved had to be collected and thrown away.

The restaurant will have to be inspected after the repairs have been completed before the eatery can officially reopen.

“The inspector will be coming next Wednesday, and after that we can reopen if we pass inspection.”

Chubboy, his wife, co-owner of the restaurant and its namesake Brigitta, will have their work cut out for them over the coming days.

“I want to get a 100 on that inspection!” he said.

Reporter

I'm an East Texas native with degrees from University of North Texas and Kilgore College. I've been reporting and taking photographs for Kilgore News Herald since May 2018. Telling the story of a growing and changing community is the best part of my job.

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