CHICAGO (WLS) — A popular Chicago restaurant needs repairs after a car drove into it Friday morning.
The street in front of Josephine’s Southern Cooking at East 79th Street and South Vernon Avenue in the Chatham neighborhood is littered with debris.
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The accident was captured on surveillance camera video. It occurred shortly after 8 a.m., less than an hour before the restaurant was scheduled to open.
Chicago police reported that a 58-year-old woman was driving a Chevy sedan eastbound when she collided with a truck turning south, causing the Chevy to crash into the restaurant.
The restaurant owner said there was one person in the building at the time of the accident, but he was not injured.
Co-owner Victor Love said the accident could have been much worse and the neighborhood is helping with the cleanup.
“My mother has given and shown a lot of love to this community and even the city as a whole. So it doesn’t surprise me and I’m grateful,” Love said.
The restaurant was first opened by Josephine “Mother” Wade.
“She’s been here since the ’90s, 1992, 1993 and 1994. Her husband had Captain Smith down on King Drive,” said resident Andre Horton.
Horton, known as the mayor of 79th Street like many others, can’t believe what happened.
The driver of the Chevy was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.
A woman who asked not to be identified said she was the daughter of the driver of the car involved. She said her mother was a little under the weather but would be OK.
“And when it hit her, it hit her so hard that she went into the restaurant,” she said.
Some frightened residents of the neighborhood heard the noise.
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“It was like a ‘boom’ and then you could hear glass shattering everywhere,” said one resident.
When emergency responders arrived, they found the car stuck in the restaurant’s dining area.
The vehicle’s path also destroyed the front wall and the entrance of the restaurant.
The repair may take at least a week.
Ald. William Hall of the 6th District said he will do everything in his power to help.
“We don’t have many restaurants in this area, so we want it to remain what it has always been: a place of hope where the hungry can get something to eat,” Hall said.
Josephine’s Southern Cooking has been part of the community for 43 years and has fed everyone from celebrities to the average Joe.
It has also overcome its share of challenges.
Not only did the restaurant remain open after a series of break-ins and robberies, it was remodeled in 2019, survived the pandemic, and provided thousands of free meals to those in need.
And although Love said news of the damage hit his mother hard, he vows to carry on her legacy.
“We will rebuild; we will win,” Love said.
It is not yet known what caused the accident. The police said that the report is still pending.
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