SerpApi.Org
Jeff Kaseburg said people still cannot believe his Bonney Lake diner was up and running two days after a car crashed into the building.
On Thursday, Bonney Lake police were dispatched at 11:40 a.m. to Hungry Dawg’s Diner at 21185 state Route 410 for the crash. Officers discovered the driver accidentally hit the gas and sped into the business, according to a Bonney Lake Police Department news release.
The driver did not show signs of impairment, the release said. Two people were taken to local hospitals for minor injuries. Kaseburg, who owns the diner with his wife, Audrey, said a booth pinned the two customers into a wall.
The crash caused the diner to close, but not for long.
Kaseburg said he was in Seattle when he got a call about the crash, and he immediately traveled back to Bonney Lake.
“When the car came in it was like a bomb coming out,” he said. “It was just a big mess.”
Kaseburg learned through customers that his employees, a tight-knit group, immediately sprung into action immediately after the wreck. They made sure the customers were OK, and they knew how to handle the situation.
“You would think they were trained for emergency operations,” he said.
From Friday, it took 200 man-hours to get everything fixed up, he said. Over 20 people helped, including vendors, customers and his employees. The last of the volunteers did not leave until 2 a.m. Saturday. The diner opened back up for business around five hours later.
Kaseburg said the car had also gone through the nail salon next door that the diner shares a wall with. He and some volunteers helped them clean up and put in a temporary wall through supplies from Home Depot. A floor specialist rearranged their schedule to help get nail polish that was shattered on the floor cleaned up.
Customers took garbage away in their own vehicles to help clean up the space as fast as possible, he said.
“People kept showing up and asking what they can do,” according to Kaseburg.
Kaseburg said right now, there are some booths that need to be replaced. Cables were destroyed, and they do not have Wi-Fi. His office space was also demolished and there are five temporary walls that need to be rebuilt. A mural has to be fixed. Kaseburg said the original artist will come back to do that.
Kaseburg said he is lucky that the car did not hit any gas or water lines. Crash barriers are going to be installed in front of the diner starting Friday, so no car can ever go through the business again.
Kaseburg credits the community support as a reason that they were able to reopen so soon.
“It was amazing. It actually would bring a tear to your eye if you saw what went down,” he said.
Kaseburg said he is the original owner from 1997, when the restaurant was first called Mad Dog’s Cafe. The restaurant then remodeled into a diner. He describes the diner as a “feel good place” with a big community.
The diner offers American food with breakfast, lunch and dinner items available all day, according to its Facebook page.
He wants the community to know the diner is back open. After they reopened on Saturday, they did not have many customers.
“Nobody believed we could open that fast,” he said.
The diner is open Monday to Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m and on Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
