Restaurant Turns Into A Snow Castle In Hamburg, New York City Due To Major Winter Storm

A lake-effect snowstorm, a New York restaurant on Lake Erie's shores reopened displaying an enchanting "ice castle coating." Hoak’s Lakeshore Restaurant in Hamburg a Buffalo suburb temporarily closed during a travel ban amid a significant winter storm on Sunday, Jan 14.  Western New York, including Hamburg experienced over 2 feet of snow with Hamburg receiving 41.3 inches. Winds and snow transformed the restaurant on Lake Erie's northeastern shores into a spectacle of massive icicles and a thick layer of ice.

The restaurant shared on Instagram that it remained closed on Sunday after receiving a "small dose of an ice castle coating." A photo depicted ice-covered railings and foot-long icicles hanging from the roof.

On Monday, the full ice castle transformation was complete with icicles from nearly every building surface. In a video shared by Richard Hulburd on X (formerly known as Twitter) he said he felt like he “walked into the movie ‘Frozen.’”

Despite the newly added icy exterior the business was open to customers on Monday. “Our ice castle today from our first storm of 2024,” the restaurant wrote on the post shared on social media. “We are open!” they added.

In December 2022, correspondent from a local news outlet witnessed massive waves enveloping Hoak’s Restaurant in Hamburg, layering it with ice and causing damage to nearby businesses.

Buffalo residents are still grappling with the aftermath of the recent snowstorm with additional lake-effect snow expected on Jan 16.

Fans diligently shoveled over a foot of snow from Highmark Stadium before the Buffalo Bills triumphed over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday.

The NFL playoff game had been postponed due to the winter storm.