LINCOLN PARK — Burst water pipes caused by last week's bitter cold cost Lincoln Park's Batter & Berries thousands of dollars in damages, but the restaurant hopes to finally reopen Wednesday.
The restaurant staff had been gearing up for a busy weekend in anticipation of a segment featuring its French toast on WTTW's "Check, Please!" when the pipes burst Thursday at 2748 N. Lincoln Ave.
The owners originally hoped to reopen Monday, but repairs have taken longer than expected.
"What we thought would be a pretty simple snip, snip, weld, weld, fix, fix, turned into an all-day piping issue," said Craig Richardson, a co-owner of Batter & Berries.
The pipes in the restaurant's building, which was built in 1896, caused headaches for the repairman, Richardson said.
"The pipes do a lot of crazy thing snaking through [the building]," Richardson said. "The plumber got in there and it got a lot deeper than we anticipated."
The pipes burst the same day a routine health department inspection was scheduled for the restaurant, "which was probably about the worst timing ever," Richardson said.
The day after the plumber fixed the leaks, the restaurant sprung a leak from snow on the roof over the cooking area.
"Basically, our whole weekend was patching and plumbing." Richardson said. "It was just one big ol' thing after another."
A health department inspector came through the restaurant Monday and gave Batter & Berries the OK to reopen, and the staff was using Tuesday to prep for Wednesday.
The restaurant, which features a new French toast special each week, will be sticking with last week's Grand Marnier until Saturday, as its run was cut short.
While the restaurant owners hoped for a weekend boost from Friday's "Check, Please!" airing, Richardson said he thought most viewers tune in for the Sunday encore.
"You can't worry about spilt milk," Richardson said.
