The Summer Leaf was a fast-food restaurant located near the former Roblox Headquarters site in Robloxia City, Central Robloxia, Robloxia. The restaurant has a straightforward design because of its large glass window at the front of the structure, which allows people to see the whole first and second level. The majority of the tables and the cashier were on the first floor, where customers often gather to sit. However, there was a lengthy corridor with tables on the second story.
The restaurant first opened to the public in 1973 as a feature of Meadows Gardens Park and for employees of the Roblox Headquarters. However, it was later known to open to other patrons and gained popularity. After the headquarters collapsed in 2024, the restaurant was eventually added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Numerous law enforcement officers and damage control specialists used the restaurant as a "headquarters" to investigate the aftermath after it collapsed and the immediate aftermath of the attacks. The building was so badly damaged that it was deemed "unlikely to be rebuilt" and at least 24 people were killed inside when it fell. The building was eventually demolished by workers in the months that followed. Starting in 2028, Roblox Headquarters 3 took the place of The Summer Leaf, and the building was included in the new location.
Design and concept
The Summer Leaf from Inside of the first floor
The Summer Leaf from Inside of the second floor
The cashier area in early October 2022, during the remodeling.
American entrepreneur Draven Holland developed the Summer Leaf fast-food franchise. He began developing the idea for his restaurant chain in 1930. The first location opened on September 1, 1932, in the United States. Despite his best efforts, the restaurant wasn't the massive success he hoped for, and as a result, the first restaurant closed around the following year. In order to promote both the restaurant and the franchise together, Draven Holland marketed the first location as a "wonderful fast-food" establishment. Draven decided to develop Summer Leaf into a franchise once the second store opened by August 1934 and proved to be a huge success.
Builder Louie Woods chose Summer Leaf as his restaurant concept after wanting to create a restaurant based on a franchise. Burger King, a similar business, and McDonald's, another fast-food restaurant, were the two most popular at the time, with Summer Leaf coming in third. Plans to open a brand-new The Summer Leaf restaurant in Robloxia City were made by December 1971. Louie chose an empty space for the restaurant and intended to turn it into a fully functional eatery. However, Louie originally intended the restaurant to be exclusively for the employees and not for the general public. However, in early 1972, the idea was abandoned and it was announced that the public would be able to see a "Summer Leaf" restaurant by the next year. At that time, it was reported that the Roblox Headquarters employees were suffering from a shortage of food within their offices. The new restaurant's construction started in October 1972, and by April of the same year, it was officially available to the public. At first, the restaurant was only available to Roblox Headquarters workers and visitors to Meadows Gardens Park. However, after a few months and a lot of demand, the new Summer Leaf restaurant opened to the public on June 2, 1973.
Modern history
After the restaurant opened, the tourist "boom" that was exploding in popularity within a few months made the Summer Leaf restaurant one of the best-selling establishments in Robloxia City. Reports state that the restaurant averaged at least 900 people per day in 1973 and over 1,400 people per day in 1975—a huge increase in just two years. A significant renovation to the restaurant's interior took place in 1980 when, for the first time in seven years, brand-new tables were added. Over the course of the restaurant's existence, a number of well-known celebrities have made visits; Randall Bloxon, in 1984, was among the most famous, having visited with over 1,000 admirers at the height of his career. Louie Woods, who was there, originally wanted the place to be closed down, but decided not to when Randall Bloxon ordered "chicken nuggets".
The restaurant had to close for three months in 1988 when a bomb went off, shattering part of the windows and wounding at least 10 people, all of whom managed to live. It reopened in September of the same year. Over 3,000 people attended the restaurant's "remember the victims of the attacks" ceremony in December 1999, which was also attended by the mayor and the CEO of the headquarters. The restaurant gained notoriety on January 6, 2006, when the new owner chose to invite everyone inside in order to shield them from the gunfire and gunshots that were flying about. According to reports in September of 2022, the restaurant would repaint the whole structure and alter its table for the first time in almost 42 years. That October, the restaurant reopened after the modification.
Destruction
There were a minimum of thirty individuals present at The Summer Leaf restaurant on December 10, 2023, in the evening. Since it was becoming late, a few of them were going to depart when they heard "popping" sounds outside. This worried them. But when Samuel Marshall, a coworker who was serving lunch, screamed "gun," several of the customers panicked. Fortunately, they were able to quickly calm down thanks to the workers' prompt responses and actions. Because of the wide windows at the front, the staff decided to send all thirty of the guests up the stairs and into the hallway after another employee, Finley Davidson, closed the doors inside. After the firefight, which lasted for more than an hour, the workers checked on the victims. Some of them were crying, and one of them attempted to flee the building but was pulled inside by a worker. Soon after the incident, police prevented anybody from leaving, and shortly before the building collapsed, many cops entered to see how some of the victims were doing. A few minutes later, there was a tremendous explosion that rocked the restaurant. The explosion was so strong that it destroyed all of the windows and sent them flying onto the second floor, wounding over 10 individuals, one of whom chose to bleed. The majority of the Roblox Headquarters's undamaged contents fell to the right as the building's initial side started to move to the right.
Within seconds, the whole Roblox Headquarters began to collapse. In around nine seconds, the majority of the structure had fallen to the ground. The building was thrown completely to the right, placing it in a more hazardous position. Many individuals inside the restaurant described hearing a loud, trembling noise. Within a few seconds, the sound intensified to the point that "ears" were bleeding, and the structure began to tremble violently. Then, a huge cloud of smoke that was moving at around 90 miles per hour struck the inside, launching massive pieces of debris into the air and covering everyone in soot and dust. People inside the restroom breathed in less smoke, which helped them withstand the intense dust. The fall of the main building sections resulted in a huge explosion and the collapse of a significant portion that originated from the headquarters straight in front of the restaurant, completely destroying the front and killing over 13 people instantly. By the time the fall halted, the restaurant had sustained complete devastation and was almost completely destroyed. The cops had either died or suffered serious injuries. The survivors who had first avoided the collapse finally succumbed to excessive smoke inhalation and perished away. At least 24 people out of the 30 people were killed inside of the building. Out of the thirty, at least twenty-four died within the structure. Due to the severe lack of visibility and the large amount of debris, the restaurant was not visible until December 13, 2023, three days later. By then, the damage had been so great that it was "unlikely to be rebuilt" in the future.
Aftermath and replacement
Police officers and damage control personnel utilized the restaurant as a "small headquarters" starting on December 11, 2023. Due to the serious damage and the fact that the structure was so severely damaged that it "could collapse," it was claimed the following day that the restaurant will be entirely destroyed. During that period, a different restaurant was supposed to take its place, but it was abandoned in favor of the government-approved Roblox Headquarters 3 building. Despite the building's destruction and destorying, the restaurant was added to the US National Register of Historic Places on January 1, 2024.