It Was Demolished After Being Damaged In A 2019 Tornado, But Today Fish City Grill Reopens

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — Fish City Grill, at Preston Road and Royal Lane in Dallas, is finally reopening. It's a story of recovery after the restaurant sustained major damage during a 2019 tornado outbreak.

Team members and customers at the Preston Oaks shopping center business were forced to take cover inside a walk-in cooler, as a tornado shredded the restaurant's walls and ceilings. In all, the storm that moved through spawned nearly a dozen tornadoes and caused more than $2 billion in damage across North Texas.

Since that October night, the restaurant has had to completely rebuild. Now, 27 months later, construction is finished and Fish City Grill is back in business.

Restaurant CEO Bill Bayne says it was important to him to return to the space they called home. "We had been in that location for many years. It's just a big part of the neighborhood, and the neighborhood has really rallied and supported us in our existing locations. We are blessed and amazed by how much that community has been looking forward to us returning."

Originally the restaurant was set to open last week, but staffing shortages caused a short delay.

The new restaurant moved to a different space, closer to Preston Road, but is in the same strip. Restaurant management say the opening location is larger than the previous one, allowing them to accommodate more customers for dine-in, and will even have some favorite team members back on staff.