SUV hits restaurant on Fort Worth’s Magnolia Ave. ‘It could have been a lot worse.’

Walloon’s Restaurant in Fort Worth’s Near Southside was open for lunch Friday despite an SUV crashing into the building earlier in the day.

Owner Marcus Paslay told the Star-Telegram that some cooks were in the kitchen on the opposite side of the restaurant at Magnolia Avenue and Hemphill Street and heard the crash around 9:30 a.m.

“Luckily no one was hurt,” Paslay said. “Thank God it was in the morning, and no one was here.”

Walloon’s Restaurant started serving lunch at 11 a.m. on Friday. The grill and seafood restaurant opened in 2023 in a century-old former bank building.

A Fort Worth Police Department spokesperson said the driver of a Honda Pilot lost control of the SUV after apparently suffering a medical situation. The driver hit a street light before crashing into the building.

The driver, an adult woman, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, according to MedStar. The spokesperson said her injuries appear to have been caused by the crash. Another person also received minor injuries. It’s unclear if they were riding in the same vehicle as the driver, the spokesperson said.

Photos of the crash show a tree that was uprooted and leaning against Walloon’s Restaurant. Paslay said the driver apparently hit the tree at some point after losing control of the vehicle.

According to Paslay, the damage to Walloon’s appears to be mostly cosmetic. Some tiles are broken on the outside, he said, and the SUV broke through some drywall on the inside. He doesn’t believe there is any structural damage.

“All in all it could have been a lot worse, so we’re grateful.”

🚨 More top stories from our newsroom:

→ North Texas farmers say chemicals in fertilizer are killing livestock

→ Fort Worth ISD committed to working with city leaders, board says

→ First H-E-B to open in Dallas County

[Get our breaking news alerts. ]