HAMBURG, N.Y. – A New York restaurant on the shores of Lake Erie has reopened after a lake-effect snowstorm covered the business in an “ice castle coating.”
Hawks Lakeshore Restaurant in Hamburg, New York, outside Buffalo, closed Sunday amid a travel ban due to the winter storm.
More than 2 feet of snow fell in areas of Western New York, and 41.3 inches fell in Hamburg.
Wind and snow covered the store on Lake Erie's northeast shore with giant icicles and a thick coating of ice.
The restaurant wrote on Instagram that it remained closed Sunday due to “a small amount of ice castle coating.” Photos showed ice covering the store's railings and icicles about 30 centimeters long falling from the roof.
On Monday, icicles appeared from the surface of nearly every building, completing the ice castle's complete transformation. In a video shared by Richard Halberd on X (formerly known as Twitter), he said, “I felt like I was walking into the movie Frozen.”
But despite the appearance of the newly added ice, the business was open for customers Monday.
“This is our ice castle right now in the first storm of 2024,” the restaurant wrote. “We're open for business!”
This isn't the local classic's first “ice castle” experience.
In December 2022, FOX weather correspondent Max Gaulden was in Hamburg when a huge wave covered Hawks Restaurant in a layer of ice and damaged nearby businesses.
The Buffalo area continues to dig out of the snowstorm before more lake-effect snow begins to fall on Tuesday.
Fans were busy shoveling snow from Highmark Stadium before the Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday.
NFL playoff games have been postponed due to winter storms.
