Managers at the Texas Roadhouse on Shallowford Road hoped to be serving drinks and grilling steaks as soon as today, one day after a pickup truck crashed through the restaurant wall and into the dining area.
Restaurant employee Brooks Ward, 25, said God saved him Friday.
He was afternoon sitting in a booth, reading his daily Bible devotionals before his shift started, when the crash came.
"I was just kind of thinking through God's word and just praying," he said. "It sounded like a bomb went off when (the truck) hit the wall."
He said the truck burst through the wall and into his booth, sending wood fragments flying and destroying everything except where he sat. He pulled himself up and crawled over the stopped truck, and he escaped with nothing more than a scratch on his elbow.
"It was pretty wild," he said.
Ward said the driver was an elderly woman, and although she was shaken, she also appeared to be uninjured.
Patrick Todoro, marketing manager, said the truck went through the back right corner in a closed-off section. He said only the back end of the truck was visible from the outside.
"It looked like she parked the truck in the restaurant," he said.
Once free from the booth, Ward said he went to grab dinner and go to Starbucks, to finish up a sermon he was working on before returning to work at the restaurant. Ward also works as a spiritual life coordinator for the male students at Tennessee Temple University.
"I just think that God was maybe reminding me of the frailty of life," he said of the accident. "Maybe this is a good way to share the gospel and show people life is short and He gives it to us as a gift."
Contact staff writer Hannah Smith at hsmith@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6731.