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Durham restaurant looks to reopen one year after deadly gas explosion

Torero's Mexican Restaurant has been closed since the April 10, 2019, explosion. Owners say they hope to reopen by late April or early May.

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Torero's
By
Kathy Hanrahan, Out
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DURHAM, N.C. — Torero's Mexican Restaurant closed its doors one year ago, after a natural gas explosion in downtown Durham that left 25 people injured and two dead. Now, owners are almost ready to reopen the doors.

Co-owners Jose Arias, Emmanuel Martinez and Francisco Equihua said Monday that they hope to reopen by late April or early May, serving take-out until the coronavirus pandemic threat lessens and restaurant dining rooms are allowed to reopen.

“We’re excited to reopen,” Arias said via a press release. “We miss our customers. We cannot wait to be back serving them again.”

Torero's is located at 800 W. Main St., just around the corner (a few hundred feet away) from where the April 10, 2019, explosion occurred. A three-person crew from Durham-based Optic Cable Technology was drilling horizontally as part of a project to install underground cables when it struck a 3/4-inch gas line in front on Kaffeinate, a coffee shop at 115 N. Duke St. The explosion killed Kaffeinate owner Kong Lee and gas company worker Jay Rambeaut.

Six people, including the owners, were inside Torero's at the time, but no one was injured. The restaurant had broken windows and one of the exterior wooden panels was damaged.

Torero's opened in 1994 on Main Street. There are two other locations in Cary and Roxboro.

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