The Extreme Pita restaurant at Portage Avenue and Balmoral Street didn't have a drive-thru -- until yesterday, that is.

Remarkably, no one was seriously injured when the driver of an eastbound U-Haul truck appeared to lose control of the vehicle on Portage Avenue about 4:10 p.m. and smashed through the side brick wall of the Extreme Pita and Booster Juice restaurant just east of the University of Winnipeg.

'It was unreal'

Witness Boran Dedeoglu said he was ordering food at Extreme Pita when he and several other customers saw the 14-foot moving truck speeding toward the building.

"I saw the truck with my own eyes coming towards the store, doing zig-zags," Dedeoglu said. "We heard a huge crash and there was smoke everywhere.

"It just seemed like a Hollywood movie. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was unreal."

Dedeoglu said the truck broke through a wall, knocking an oven and an Extreme Pita employee to the floor.

"He was lying on the floor so we just grabbed him," Dedeoglu said.

He said the male driver of the U-Haul seemed uninjured when he came into the store after the crash.

"We're happy we're safe and we're happy nobody got injured," Dedeoglu said. "It was a big shock."

The driver was transported to hospital in stable condition but no one else was injured in the accident, police said.

jason.halstead@sunmedia.ca