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SALT LAKE CITY — A popular Salt Lake City Greek restaurant closed because of a flood says it could still be weeks before they can reopen, during what's normally their busiest time of year.
Manoli's is known for great Greek dishes and warm hospitality. Husband-and-wife owners Manoli Katsanevas and Katrina Cutrubus opened it in 2015 on the corner of 900 South and 400 East, in a bright and airy, modern-style building with big windows.
"We really strive on local, seasonal, everything from scratch," Katsanevas said, of their small plate dishes.
'From scratch' is exactly what the couple's been focusing on the past several weeks — though, not the version they typically pride themselves in.
Katsanevas got a call on the morning of Dec. 30 from a prep worker who said there was water leaking everywhere. The worker took a video that shows water dripping down from the ceiling across the entire restaurant, pooling up on the ground.
Water was bubbling up in walls and soffits. Cutrubus described it as looking like everything was melting around her.
"It looked like it was raining from the ceiling, all the way through the basement down into the dry storage," she said.
They'd find a water cooler in the spa business upstairs malfunctioned — a complete freak accident.
"A quarter-inch pipe popped off of it and was spraying a couple gallons a minute overnight," Katsanevas said. Several hours of water spraying from the small pipe was enough to damage the entire building.
At first, Manoli's closed for a couple of weeks to work on repairs. It ended up taking a full two weeks just to dehumidify the space. Crews had to demolish the old drywall and dry everything out.
They'll need to replace all the ceilings, flooring, light fixtures and more. Cutrubus said it's been a wait to get materials in.
Six weeks later, they're still weeks from being able to reopen. Katsanevas said January, February and March are typically their busiest months.
"Obviously, we missed New Year's Eve, Valentine's, All-Star weekend, Sundance, the first Outdoor Retailer, so those definitely affect and hurt our business," Katsanevas said.
The upcoming NBA All-Star weekend would have been especially busy, because being one of the three NBA-approved restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic, Katsanevas said Manoli's a lot of business through the NBA.
"It's a little bit of a bummer. But at the same token, I mean, what do you do? There's nothing you can do but just go forward," he said.
The couple explained that insurance is covering repairs, and all their employees are still getting paid.
Everyone, they said, from the building owner down to vendors and customers, have been pulling together to help. Two of their customers have been coming by every week, bringing treats and well-wishes.
"We definitely wouldn't be able to get through it without the support from everyone," Cutrubus said.
It may not be the 'from scratch' experience they had in mind, but the couple is hoping Manoli's will taste even better when it reopens.
"We just want to give good food and good service to the community," Katsanevas said.
Katsanevas and Cutrubus hope to reopen in March, and are keeping customers updated on their social media channels.
Not all business will be lost during the NBA All-Star weekend- Katsanevas they rented kitchen space to cater the player meet-and-greets next week.
