See How Blizzard Conditions Left This New York Restaurant Encased in Ice

Arctic temps, blizzard conditions and the spray from Lake Erie left Hoak’s Lakeshore Restaurant in Hamburg, New York encased in ice.

Restaurant owner Kevin Hoak said the storm started building icicles on the building Friday, and the ice just kept building throughout the storm.

“So it started on Friday. I’d say probably around 8, 9 in the morning and it was Sundowner winds splashing against the restaurant, against the foundation and eventually it froze over because it was so cold because it went from like 45 degrees to about 12 degrees,” Hoak said.

Just south of Buffalo, Hamburg and the entire western New York region has been one of the hardest hit areas from the massive winter storm that swept across much of the country in the last week.

“As you can see, it actually protected the restaurant by dropping so low in temperature, because it is acting as a barrier and protecting the restaurant foundation,” he said.

Hoak says it is too early to tell what damage the ice has caused to the building, which has been run by the Hoak family since it opened in 1949.

“I guess we won’t know (about damages to restaurant) until it melts. It’s pretty heavy. That’s what I’m nervous about. But nothing broke. No windows broke. No leaks. And we have just had new floor put in and none of that was touched. So right now we’re good, the only problem is the parking lot got beat up pretty bad.”