Tailgaters Grille, which sits just 300 yards from the fire station on Main Street belongs to Firefighter Dean S. Weeks and was destroyed in the four-alarm blaze.
He opened the business in 2009 after talking about opening a restaurant and bar for more than a decade.
"It hasn't even totally sunk in yet," he told the newspaper.
Crews got the call for the fire at approximately 10:30 a.m. for a gas leak, but when they arrived they discovered the fire.
The 24-year veteran said he thought he would just have to shut down the restaurant for the night.
He said his cooks broke a natural gas line in the process of cleaning and called 911 before evacuating the customers.
"We went to the back of the building and saw smoke barreling out of the fan hoods and doors. When we opened it up, we saw the whole place was fully involved (in fire)," he said.
The fire, which extended through the building's roof, was attacked from above with aerial ladders.
Fire Chief Richard J. Hart said the snowstorm made fighting the blaze more challenging.
"Weather conditions deteriorated more and more as time went on," he said.
Weeks not only lost his business, but also his collection of sports memorabilia displayed inside the bar and restaurant.
Firefighter Weeks said he is unsure if he will reopen the business elsewhere.
"I haven't thought about it at all," he said. "I built this place twice. In March 2010, when the floods came through Clinton, I had four feet of water in the kitchen. It completely wiped us out."
