After four weeks of closure due to $60,000 in property damages from the April flooding, Eden’s Cafe on Stuebner Airline Road will reopen for business May 17, owner Ulises Larramendi said.

On Monday, April 18, the cafe had stormwater reach its elevated concrete sidewalk, which acted as a barrier between the flooding and the restaurant. The workers at the cafe hoped that that would be the extent of the threat, Larramendi said.

“We said ‘We dodged a bullet,’” he said. “[April 19] it kept raining, and it went in [the restaurant] about two to three inches. That’s enough water to destroy all the drywall, sheetrock, my wood floor—some of the furniture was damaged, but we had a lot of the chairs on up the table, so that saved some stuff.”

While the restaurant was closed for repairs, Larramendi took advantage of the time to renovate a section of the restaurant to create a private dining room for customers.

All of the cafe employees remained on the payroll during the closure and have pitched in to help with the repairs and renovations, he said.

“Everybody’s getting ready to open up [May 17] with a bang,” Larramendi said.