Ella’s Top Corral general manager and owner Nicholas ‘Nick Perry, center, cooks alongside his staff members Xavier Nelson and Shacaria Clay to serve meals to customers Tuesday afternoon. The general fast-casual restaurant was one of several businesses that received extensive damage following Hurricane Idalia.

VALDOSTA – It’s been one week since Hurricane Idalia hit the Valdosta-Lowndes County community, but its impact continues to unfurl businesses that have served in the area for decades.

Ella’s Top Corral, a local fast-casual restaurant, was one of several businesses that received extensive damage following the storm. Known best for its handmade burgers, the restaurant has been in the community since 1976. Ella Mae Brown has worked at the 1007 S. Patterson St. location since its inception, starting out within the kitchen and continuing to climb the leadership ladder as manager. She purchased the restaurant in 2006 from the original owners, Ralph and Gay Moore.

Her grandson, Nicholas “Nick” Perry, has worked at the business for over 18 years and became the general manager and owner in 2018. Kyle Webb, the marketing brand development manager, was introduced shortly thereafter.

Together, they’ve spent the last five years making improvements to the business from renovating the drive-thru area to updating the dining area’s furniture and completing a new roof construction.

But all that work was reversed when Brown, Perry and Webb entered the restaurant on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

“The most devastating part was [on] Wednesday, walking into the restaurant and seeing my grandmother standing in the middle and just bawling her eyes out. She’s standing there looking at everything we’ve worked for and everything we’ve done, just kind of gone,” he said in an interview Sunday afternoon.

On Tuesday, a day prior to the storm, Perry and the 11 staff members were happy and upbeat while selling meals. Viewing the damage was a complete 180 for them.

“…and then on Wednesday, the lights were off, the floors were soaked with water, the ceiling had caved in and the roof was in the parking lot area,” Perry said. “We were praying, nothing happened to the building, but then going into it, I was like oh my God.”

The silver lining through the entire experience was being able to serve their supporters and community members who were left without food during the storm. The crew began cooking the supply that would otherwise spoil after the restaurant lost electric power on Thursday, Aug. 31. They returned Tuesday, Sept. 5, to serve plates again starting at 10 a.m. until supplies ran out.

“It was a huge [turnout] reaction from the community. There were linemen, law enforcement and neighbors out here,” Webb said.

Perry agreed stating, “At this time, we are working diligently to get the restaurant back open.”

Supporters can check periodically on Ella’s Top Corral’s social media for sneak peeks and updates of the location’s construction progress.