BUFFALO, N.Y. — Louie’s Texas Red Hots has served the Bailey Avenue neighborhood in Buffalo for more than 20 years.

“The way I opened it up. A clean environment. Friendly service,” said owner Carl Anderson. “Good food. Comfort food — and a food that they were familiar with. The community down here, for so many years, that it would be a win. And it was. And it has been. And I think it still is.”

Anderson says he loves both his employees and the community.

“It’s a great community,” he said. “It’s a community in need of restaurants, services and stores.”

Which is why he was heartbroken as he remotely watched looters break into his store on Christmas Eve — the deadly winter storm leaving him and police unable to respond.

“They basically trashed the place looking for cash,” said Anderson. “They smashed my cash register drawers, one set of them. When they couldn’t get them open, they actually stole the entire POS system, cash drawer and everything.”

Four hours later, he was broken into again.

“It hurt,” said Anderson. “It was…it was difficult, that’s all I’m going to say. It was really hard.”

His store was just one of many hit along the street during the storm, with emergency contractors out in force Thursday to board up broken windows and doors.

“It’s a shame, they shouldn’t do it,” said Ken Candella, Candella Construction. “Your grandmother needs the meds after five days of the storm? They’re not getting it. They’re not getting it here.”

Anderson doesn’t blame anyone in particular.

“The problem isn’t the community itself, it’s the youth of the community and a subsection of culture down here where there’s no responsibility or repercussions for what they do,” he said.

But Anderson still has faith in the City of Good Neighbors.

“I just am not going to allow what happened to change my outlook on the community as a whole,” he said.

The Buffalo Police Department is asking anyone with information to call or text the confidential TipCall Line at (716) 847-2255.