POPULAR Launceston restaurant Italian Pizza House has been closed indefinitely, after a small SUV ploughed through the business' shop front on Thursday night.
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Restaurant owner Heath Watson said the driver of the SUV lost control at 11.23pm.
No one was hurt in the crash, but Mr Watson said the damage bill would be worth more than $10,000.
"It's lucky, because my sister-in-law was here a minute before it happened," he said.
"Who knows what could have happened if there had been customers in the store at the time."
Mr Watson has not received an estimate of damage costs yet, but said his fridge alone was worth $14,000.
He also said the business would miss out on the sale of up to 600 pizzas a day due to the incident.
A witness on Thursday night said the crash unfolded in a split second.
"He came around the corner a million miles an hour - it was one of the most stupid things I've seen - totally stupid," he said.
"The car came around the corner doing about 80 kilometres per hour and it was up on two wheels."
The driver of the vehicle visited the store yesterday and apologised to staff. He has offered to help Mr Watson in his clean-up efforts.
Police are investigating the incident.