A suspected drink-driver and three of his passengers were taken to hospital after a car smashed into a popular Manchester city centre restaurant at 3am on New Year's Day.
No staff were inside Tampopo when the dramatic smash happened in Albert Square.
But the car burst into flames on impact and firefighters had to help a man and a woman from the vehicle.
They and two others were taken to hospital for treatment.
The Ford Fiesta smashed into the front of Tampopo restaurant in Albert Square and burst into flames, setting fire to a number of umbrella stands outside the venue.
Owner David Fox, 55, from Chorlton, who has five other Tampopo outlets, told the M.E.N: "It would appear someone just crashed into it, a great start to 2021!"
None of the 20 staff nor the owner was on the site when the crash happened.
The full extent of the damage to the restaurant, which opened there in 1997, is yet to be established.
"I'm hoping it will just be minor external damage. We will see," said Mr Fox, who hopes the restaurant will be able to open for takeaways tomorrow (Saturday).
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said officers were called to the scene at around 3.15am.
He said: "A man aged 19 was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and failing to remain at the scene of a collision.
"He was taken to hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life threatening.
"Three passengers in the car - a woman aged 19, a man aged 18, and a man aged 20 were taken to hospital for injuries that are not believed to be life threatening."
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said two fire engines, from Moss Side and Salford, were called to the scene alongside a technical response unit from Ashton-under-Lyne after reports that a car had gone into a building in Albert Square just before 3.15am.
Firefighters used hose-reels to tackle a fire but the blaze did not appear to have spread to the inside of the restaurant, although it was left heavily smoke-logged, he said.
Firefighters pulled a man and a woman from the car and they were taken to hospital by the North West Ambulance Service, he said.
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