Fox Hill Restaurant to reopen after 11-month closure

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - It has been 341 days since Fox Hill Restaurant and Gardens has opened its doors to the public. After 11 months of renovations and repairs following the February 2021 winter storm, they will finally open back up on Friday and begin their new chapter.

“I am very happy that we are on our feet again,” Shawn Sharif, General Manager at Fox Hill Restaurant said.

On Feb. 15, 2021, the restaurant was closed, but on that day their pipes froze and busted. The staff had no idea what damage had been done.

Fox Hill Restaurant is re-opening after being closed for almost a year due to damage they... — Fox Hill Restaurant is re-opening after being closed for almost a year due to damage they received from Winter Storm Uri.(kauz)

“All of our fire spraying system got froze and busted,” Sharif said. “Our basement got full of it, up to 5 1/2 feet of water. All the walls upstairs and downstairs got damaged so we had to fix all the walls. Our furniture was damaged and we had to fix that.”

The water damage itself wouldn’t have been as bad, except Winter Storm Uri held temperatures below freezing for multiple days, turning the restaurant into a frozen tundra.

“All the ice and everything, you could not get in the restaurant because behind the doors it was all frozen and water everywhere,” Sharif said. “It was very, very sad.”

He said they would have opened sooner if not for other issues caused by the pandemic.

“COVID and labor was shortage, equipment was shortage, so it took 11 months for us to finish the process.”

After 11 long months, Fox Hill Restaurant is reopening on Jan. 21. Sharif said this time around they are prepared if another winter storm were to hit.