GALVESTON, Texas Brennan’s Restaurant, a Houston institution for four decades, was destroyed early Saturday morning in a fire whipped by winds from Hurricane Ike.
Homes, businesses and other structures on this Texas island south of Houston were flattened or damaged by Ike’s 110 mph winds as the hurricane bore into Texas.
About 30 miles inland, at the mouth of Galveston Bay, the popular Kemah Boardwalk, which was developed by Landry’s Restaurants of Houston, was submerged by storm surge.
The Friday night blaze at Brennan’s Restaurant in Houston began as the leading edge of Hurricane Ike pushed into the city. The Associated Press reported a 45-year-old man and his 4-year-old daughter, along with a third man who was not related, were taking refuge in the bricked restaurant when the fire ignited. They were hospitalized Saturday.
Firefighters were hampered by the hurricane’s winds.
The restaurant, which opened in 1967, is co-owned by Alex Brennan-Martin. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, much of the staff of Commander’s Palace in New Orleans worked at the Houston Brennan’s.
In a statement released early Saturday evening, Brennan-Martin said: "Our foremost concern is with our employees who sustained burns in the fire as well as with our fellow citizens as we recover from this terrible storm. In the hours and days ahead, we will discover the full extent of the damage to the restaurant. We're very proud to have served our guests for the past 41 years and are grateful for the outpouring of support these past hours. It means the world to us."
Alex's sister, Ti Adelaide Martin, who lives in New Orleans, added, "Alex did so much for us in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with the establishment of the New Orleans Hospitality Workers Disaster Relief Fund.
"In my opinion, never in the history of America has one city been better to another as Houston was to New Orleans after Katrina," Martin continued. "New Orleanians will never forget their generosity. As a family with roots in both cities, we encourage New Orleanians and the rest of the country to try to help as much as they can."
