Arlingtonians flock to SER for its extensive tapas menu and global wine list. The Spanish fare and comfortable atmosphere are a Ballston staple, so when a burst pipe forced the restaurant to close its doors (for who knew how long) in July, locals scrambled for a place to get their paella fix.
SER proprietors Javier and Christiana Candon travel to Spain each year to visit family. They learned the moment they touched down in Europe that a pipe had exploded in a neighboring business, causing SER’s ceiling to collapse. No one was hurt, but the restaurant took a beating.
The collapsed ceiling and accompanying flooding forced SER to close its doors for three weeks.
“The ceiling over our seafood bar collapsed, causing light fixtures to break, damaging food and products [and] furniture,” Javier Candon said. “Massive flooding caused damage to booths, tables, chairs, the floor and both bars…basically everything was destroyed.”
“Luckily, that is all behind us thanks to an incredible team that worked around the clock to make repairs and get SER back to its original state,” said Christiana Candon.
SER reopened on August 14, just as Summer Restaurant Week—a local area food festival that offers three course meals at prix fixe prices—runs from now until August 19.