A breakfast and lunch restaurant in Evans will be closed through at least Feb. 7 because a driver plowed into the eatery causing extensive damage.
The restaurant is called Local, and on Wednesday, manager Nate Gates had to turn away customers. He has kept his doors shuttered since the Jan. 31 accident.
Inside the restaurant at 3851 Evans to Locks Road, the granite bar top is cracked and broken, the front panel windows are boarded up and the floor has scratches and skid marks. It still smells of burning tire.
On Monday night around 7:40 p.m., Quay Alexander Rice, 30, of Martinez, drove his blue Hyundai Tuscon into the parking lot and suffered a medical emergency, according a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office report. Rice lost control and his Tuscon hit a parked Lexus, then slammed through the plate-glass windows of the restaurant.
Gates said the driver had a seizure. The car came to a halt and was wedged between the bar and a back wall. The driver unintentionally pressed down on his car’s gas pedal, which caused his tires to spin and burn on the restaurant’s tile floor.
No one was inside the restaurant at the time of the accident, and the driver was not seriously injured. Local is in the same strip mall as the Walmart Neighborhood Market at the corner of Furys Ferry Road and Evans to Locks Road.
On Wednesday, construction crews were repairing the damage. Gates said he hopes to open again on Tuesday, Feb. 8.
Joshua B. Good is a staff reporter covering Columbia County and military/veterans’ issues for The Augusta Press. Reach him at joshua@theaugustapress.com
