State College Area Restaurant Damaged After Driver Crashes Into Building

Updated 4:24 p.m. Aug. 12 with comment from State College police.

A Centre Region restaurant is temporarily closed for dine-in and takeout service after a driver crashed a car into its building early Tuesday morning.

Bonfire Old Fashioned BBQ co-owner Glenn Kunig discovered the crash when he arrived at the restaurant at 2609 E. College Ave. in College Township at about 5:30 a.m. The driver was not at the scene, and security camera footage from a nearby business showed the car “sliding into the building” at around 2 a.m., fellow Bonfire co-owner Josh Kunig told StateCollege.com

The driver has been identified and did not sustain serious injuries, State College police Lt. Ted Hubler said. A preliminary investigation has found no indication that drugs or alcohol played a factor when the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the building “at a high rate of speed,” Hubler said.

The investigation is ongoing and charges have not yet been determined.

Photographs showed the car broke through the brick and stone wall, leaving extensive debris in the dining room.

Bonfire is continuing to fulfill catering orders as scheduled. Dine-in and takeout orders are temporarily halted until wall repairs and interior cleanup are completed and the Centre Region Code Administration gives approval to reopen.

“Code came in here and decided what we needed to do to go forward, and the landlord is actually making amazing progress right now,” Josh Kunig said. “We’re not sure when everything is going to get approved. They already have a temporary wall up on the outside. Everything’s just got to be secured. Once code approves everything we should be able to go to dine-in service.”

The restaurant is expected to be closed on Wednesday, but Josh Kunig said he is hopeful it can reopen on Thursday. Customers should check Bonfire’s Facebook page for updates.

Though the damage has disrupted their operations, the owners managed to take the incident with a bit of humor.

“So phase two isn’t going as planned…. We were not exactly planning on having a drive thru but now seeing it, we don’t think its a good fit,” they wrote on Facebook.