Crash wrecks restaurant

A vehicle crashed through a restaurant on the corner of Lake City Way Northeast and 15th Avenue Northeast Sunday morning, devastating the business's owner, who is left to pick up the pieces.

Those pieces included shattered glass, splintered chairs and the front bumper of the vehicle, which came to a stop only after cutting a 30-foot-long path through the middle of the restaurant. Where there had been tables, there were tire marks.

"I'm just happy this didn't happen at night because we could have had many people hurt," said Tony Botchev, owner of Toto's Ristorante Italiano, which was closed when the accident occurred at about 8 a.m.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the driver remained with the vehicle when police arrived or whether anyone in the vehicle was injured. Seattle police on Sunday offered few details about the accident. Spokesman Jeff Kappel said the person who called 911 reported that two cars were involved, with one going into the building. Kappel said no arrest was made.

Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said one engine responded to the scene but that no medic unit was summoned.

Botchev opened Toto's as a casual neighborhood dining spot two years ago, taking over a space previously occupied by Gaspare's. He said he figures his business now is in limbo.

"Who knows how long it would take to rebuild this from scratch?" he said, pointing to where support beams once stood. "There might not be a restaurant in this place anymore. How are you going to convince people that this is a safe place?"

The restaurant is at an angle of the intersection where vehicles are allowed to turn left onto 15th against what is often heavy oncoming traffic on Lake City Way. Botchev said accidents seem to occur at the diagonal intersection weekly.

Although the building will need repairs, the most difficult thing to restore could be the faith of neighborhood diners who, having surveyed the damage, might think twice before eating a meal on that corner again.

Silverware, cloth napkins, salt shakers and menus were strewn about the restaurant yesterday.

"Dear me," said Kay Verelius, who lives around the corner. "It looks like a bomb went off in there."

Stuart Eskenazi: 206-464-2293 or seskenazi@seattletimes.com