Popular MS Coast restaurant is rebuilding after tornado. When will it reopen?

The roof of his restaurant is gone, and so are its booths and tables.

But Orlando Godoy strode through the rubble this week, feeling hopeful.

“Everything was material,” he said of the damages from a tornado that pounded Aztecas Restaurant & Cantina in Gautier, but injured no one. “Even if it takes a year,” he said, “we can rebuild.”

The challenge is tough. Little looks the same after 95-mph winds wrecked the building on a Sunday morning last month as staff were preparing for the usual lunch rush. Now a crew of workers is digging up what was once the lively patio. Wires are dangling from what was once the ceiling. In some parts of the kitchen, sunlight is shining down through empty space that used to be a roof.

But Godoy, the owner, is overseeing a determined rebuilding effort that he hopes will let the restaurant open again in four months.

It could take longer — Godoy knows construction often confronts unforeseen setbacks and delays. But he is busy these days submitting reconstruction drawings to the city for approval and meeting with contractors who will begin the work as soon as they can. Crews have already demolished the damaged patio walls, and the restaurant’s interior is mostly empty.

The tornado on Oct. 26 lasted 10 minutes and cut a 2.5-mile path through the city, tearing apart trees and damaging the nearby Glenmark Apartments and Riverbend Condominums before it dissipated near Interstate 10.

But its first shock came at Aztecas, where nine employees were working before customers arrived. After the storm, some neighbors rushed there immediately with water and coffee as the staff first began to sort through the damage in the rain.

The location in Gautier opened in 2012. Ever since, it has served tacos, burritos, fajitas and more to customers, including some regulars who used to visit once or twice a week. Now, Godoy said some Gautier staffers are working at other Aztecas locations across the Mississippi Coast. Others are seeking new jobs in Gautier.

Customers have left dozens of supportive messages on social media, and some have simply stopped by to check in.

“We feel very fortunate,” Godoy said of the community’s response. A blue tarp shifted in the wind above him. “It’s overwhelming,” he said, “in a good way.”