JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A car crashed into Trap House Chicken on Normandy Blvd. Wednesday afternoon, sending the popular restaurant into cleanup and recovery mode — but its owner says the doors will stay open.
Jamal Oakes, owner of Trap House Chicken, said a driver accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake, sending the vehicle through the front of the business. Oakes was not on-site when it happened, but his employees were.
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“Somebody was parking and accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake and it drove through our whole business over here,” Oakes said.
Oakes said no one was injured — a detail he called the most important part of the story.
“No one got hurt, luckily. That’s the best thing about everything,” he said. “I mean, we can replace all of this, the car, but it was a young teen driver. So I’m just glad that he was OK.”
Business goes on
Despite the damage, Oakes said Trap House Chicken remains open and ready to serve customers.
“We’re still open. We’ll still be able to serve the public and serve everybody’s food,” he said. “So come get those ribs, come get that chicken from us.”
Oakes acknowledged the incident will have a long-term impact on operations. Much of the equipment used for daily operations was damaged in the crash. He said the timeline for a full recovery could stretch anywhere from three to nine months, depending on how the insurance process unfolds.
“This is going to be a process depending on how long our management company, as far as the insurance company goes,” Oakes said. “They were insured, so that’s good.”
‘Mentality of a fireman’
For Oakes, the crash is just the latest chapter in a story he’s already writing — literally. He recently published a book titled My Life as a Fireman: A Restaurant Owner’s Battle for Survival, which he said speaks directly to moments like this one.
“It goes back to what I’m saying — you got to have a mentality of a fireman out here,” Oakes said. “If you’re a business owner or a restaurant owner, you gotta expect problems. And when problems happen, you’ve got to have faith.”
Oakes said his faith carried him through the moment.
“For me, it’s God. And I know we’re going to get through this like we get through every other fire that we have to deal with,” he said. “I can’t ask for a better outcome to a bad situation.”