PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – In the thick of a historic snowstorm that stalled roadways and stranded drivers in the cold, the owner of Oven and Shaker found himself among those trapped Thursday night.
Ryan Magarian, who oversees two locations of the popular pizza restaurant in Portland and Lake Oswego, said a drive home that should have taken a half-hour instead took 7 hours, 30 minutes.
“This was the worst part. I was dehydrated. I had no food. I had never been so thirsty in my life,” Magarian said. “This is so bad, but I was breaking off ice from my rearview mirror and sucking on it.”
Considering the gravity of the storm, Magarian said he did not hesitate to close down his restaurant for the night.
“That honestly is never a hard call if you really believe that you’re putting team members at risk,” Magarian said.
In the end Magarian made it home, but not without frustration.
“Had I known I was going to sit in the car for the amount of time it would take me to drive to Boise, Idaho, I don’t know how I would have done that,” he said.