Smithtown Restaurant To Reopen Following Fiery, Fatal Crash

SMITHTOWN, NY - A Smithtown restaurant will be reopening on Thursday for the first time since the fatal crash in 2017 caused it to closed it doors.

Casa Luis, a Spanish restaurant located at 1033 W. Jericho Turnpike, shut down in Oct. 2017 after a minivan crashed into a parked pickup truck and then into restaurant before catching fire.

As a result of the crash, the minivan driver died.

The fire extended to the business through an active natural gas leak. The restaurant owners, Luis and Carmen Estevez, were inside an apartment above Casa Luis at the time of the crash and escaped uninjured.

Now, after the long wait, the eatery has rebuilt and will be hosting a grand reopening Thursday for lunch from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. and for dinner from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

"One year after a terrible accident, we will be open for business in mid-January of 2019," a message on the restaurant's website reads.

Cafe Luis is open Sundays from 1 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

For more information, visit the restaurant's website here.