BEATRICE, Neb - After a heavy summer storm impacted one of Beatrice’s most beloved venues, there is now a light at the end of the tunnel.

When a late July storm rolled through southeast Nebraska, it did more than dump heavy rain and hail. Many saw significant damage, including Valentino’s on Court street. The storm provided heavy damage to the establishment, leaving owner Vince Warner with a major task ahead.

“I was woken up by the storm that morning, we have a breakfast party that comes in every Saturday, I had some staff here taking care of them,” Warner said. “When the storm awoke me, I called the staff to see how things were going and they told me it was raining in here.”

Upon making his way to the restaurant, Warner’s plans for a morning cleanup before opening at 11, shifted to the beginning of a long journey.

“Walking in, you’re kind of numb at first… Don’t know what to think,” Warner said. “All the hard work we put into things and it becomes an immediate reality to we’re not opening today, not sure when we’re reopening.”

Valentino’s would remain closed for six weeks following the storm. With the help of local businesses such as Schoen’s Roofing, Warner and his team began picking up the pieces. Heavy damage occurred in the entry way, hallways, bathroom’s and the restaurant office.

“The majority of the damage was about a third of the building,” Warner said. “And when it comes from the roof, it spreads at the bottom. We had to remove several walls, replace a lot of drywall, some electrical, carpets had to be replaced.. A lot of cleanup with flooring.”

However, things are looking up. New carpeting has been installed and repairs to the bathrooms are well underway. The next challenge for Warner is hiring enough staff to be fit to reopen. Open positions range from cook to front end jobs.  

“We’ve been pretty skeleton on staff,” Warner said. “The last couple weeks, we’ve been able to get some crew hired and into the process of training.. I feel confident we’ll have a solid crew again soon to start reopening.”

As they near reopening, Valentino’s is currently open for evening drive thru carryout from 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Warner hopes within the next week, they expand those hours to 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. As part of the process, Valentino’s has once again become the sight of midweek meetings for local groups like Beatrice Kiwanis and Rotary.

“We were able to start bringing them back two weeks ago,” Warner said. “We appreciate their support sticking with us. They could have gone elsewhere and throughout the process, they let me know they were looking forward to coming home.”

Warner says he’ll continue to post updates on the Beatrice Neighborhood Watch Facebook groups and the Valentino’s Beatrice Facebook page.