Niedlov’s Bakery avoids “disaster” after car crashes into their patio

A part of the damaged fence caused by this weekend’s crash at Niedlov’s Bakery.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- A bakery on Main Street says they had a close call to a catastrophe this weekend.

Niedlov’s has been one of Chattanooga’s most popular bakeries since it opened in 20-02.

Additionally, the Christmas season is the busiest time for them.

However, an incident early Sunday morning was very close to having a devastating outcome.

Niedlov’s catering manager Shannon Stewart said that, “Early Sunday morning, our owners Lauren and Eric Zilen had received a phone call that a car had crashed into our patio.”

Stewart says that while this crash caused a mess for the bakery, they were lucky the crash’s circumstances were not any different.

“We’re just very grateful that no one here was harmed on our patio. If they had crashed into our patio in the middle of the business day, there’s normally 40 people out here enjoying breakfast or lunch,” said Stewart.

Even with no one present at the bakery at the time, its destiny was inches away from being altered.

Stewart said, “The car stopped within inches of our fire pit that we have on our patio, and so had the person driving the car hit the fire pit, there is a gas line under that fire pit, so it would have been a huge disaster.”

Despite the incident, Niedlov’s is continuing headstrong into their holiday sales, as evidenced by this long line heading into the restaurant Monday morning.

“In fact, the patio did not look like this yesterday afternoon when I left but when I got here this morning, it seems like it was put back together and that’s all thanks to our team, our staff, and especially our owners Lauren and Eric… We called ourselves the busy little elves yesterday on Sunday when we were putting the patio back together and baking bread, I spent a little time yesterday making boxes for people’s bread to go in. We all just went right back to work and didn’t let this stop us in any way,” said Stewart.

Chattanooga Police have confirmed that after investigating this incident, they have cited a 21 year old driver for reckless driving.

Niedlov’s is open for its normal hours, including special holiday hours.