JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Inspectors are making sure that restaurants are in compliance after Hurricane Irma.
Power was knocked out across the region. Food was in jeopardy and infrastructure was compromised during the storm. The state wants to make sure that customers' health is not at risk.
During post-storm inspections, a number of questions are asked about disaster recovery. Several restaurant owners who had inspections after the storm said temperatures were a major concern.
Andy Zarka owns all four European Street Cafes in Jacksonville. The restaurant in San Marco, which has been there for 20 years, sustained tens of thousands of dollars in damage. The sandbags were no match for the water that came pouring in, and Zarka had 2 feet of water in the restaurant when the water rose on San Marco Boulevard.
The inside of the restaurant is devastated. Zarka said it's going to take at least four months to reopen. He said the floodwaters destroyed the flooring, blew out the electrical system and destroyed more than $50,000 worth of merchandise.
"There was a layer of silt everywhere," Zarka said. "In the whole place, the carpets were saturated, ceiling tiles were already starting to sag. It wasn't a pretty picture."
Zarka said he's still assessing the damage, like to the iconic antique bar that was brought in from England.
"The bottom pieces need some work and we're not sure whether it's going to have to be replaced in total," he said.
But the work has begun to repair and reopen the restaurant.
"Start fresh will be interesting. It's a project we can sink our teeth into -- update the look, creating some interesting spaces we didn't have before," Zarka said.
WATCH: San Marco European Street closed for storm repairs
Zarka also was worried about the restaurants in Riverside and at Jacksonville Beach, but neither of them had any damage.
The Riverside restaurant did lose power. During the inspection after the storm, Zarka said, the questions were centered on making sure the food being served wasn't ever compromised.
"They checked all the cooler temperatures, asked how long we lost power for. We gave them our best estimate not knowing because we lost power in the middle of the night. We didn't lose power for that long, so they kept temperature. So they were happy with that, and then anything that didn't, we threw it away," Zarka said. "They were satisfied with what they saw, that everything was back running as usual per their previous inspections."
The state also gives each restaurant a copy of the emergency recovery guidelines. Some of the highlights are the five keys for safer food in areas hit by disaster.
In the meantime, the three other European Street locations are up and running. Zarka said they've had to move employees around to keep them employed and the community is responding.
"The community has been great," he said. "Other locations, we've definitely seen an uptick in business. So I think some of our loyal customers from here are traveling to some of the other locations."
Whatever it takes, it will happen -- Zarka is San Marco Strong.