By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

A Muddy River Grill customer accidentally drove a truck into the side of the restaurant last week just before the evening rush hour began. Photo by Craig Haderlie.

Customers of the Muddy River Bar and Grill in Moapa had an unusual dining experience on Thursday evening when a motorist drove his vehicle into the southeast wall of the restaurant. At about 4:30 in the afternoon, the restaurant staff was gearing up for its popular Mexican Food night when a Ford F-150 pickup hit the building from the parking lot breaking a hole in the southeast dining room wall.

“It looked like he accidentally hit the gas pedal, when he was parking, instead of the brake,” said Muddy River owner Kent Slight. “He jumped the curb which probably startled him and then he went into the wall.”

Slight said that no guests or staff were injured in the incident. The driver and passenger in the car also came away with no serious injuries, he said.

The incident didn’t slow down business at the restaurant that evening, Slight said.

“We got the hole in the wall boarded up quick with plywood that evening and everything was business as usual after that,” Slight he said.

“It happened about a half hour before it got really busy for our Mexican Food night,” said restaurant manager, Ben Paschal. “None of the tables were affected and that’s good because we had a full house that night. I think some people might have come in to see what happened and stuck around for dinner. We actually had a good night.”