BY LOREEN BERLIN: Kaye's Kitchen on Historic Main Street in Garden Grove has suffered a fire.
"Fortunately," said owner Jim Schierberl, "someone across the street saw flames inside the business and called 911.”
That was Monday, Sept. 28. Schierberl said he was told it would take six- to-eight weeks to get the restaurant up and running again.
The fire has displaced not only the owner and staff, but regular restaurant customers who depend on Kaye’s for their daily breakfast, lunch and sometimes more.
BY LOREEN BERLIN: Kaye's Kitchen on Historic Main Street in Garden Grove has suffered a fire.
"Fortunately," said owner Jim Schierberl, "someone across the street saw flames inside the business and called 911.”
That was Monday, Sept. 28. Schierberl said he was told it would take six- to-eight weeks to get the restaurant up and running again.
The fire has displaced not only the owner and staff, but regular restaurant customers who depend on Kaye’s for their daily breakfast, lunch and sometimes more.
"Things were growing and going great before the fire," Schierberl said. "We had a lot of long-time customers who would come here because they were familiar with the food we serve.”
"When I was young, probably 9- or-10 years old, I had a newspaper route for the Herald Examiner and I loved it," he said. "Kaye's Kitchen was on my paper route and so I would stop and get a soda at Wheeler's Market that was located then in the corner building on Main Street.”
Schierberl said growing up in Garden Grove, he has a lot of memories, and that many of the same people who were in Garden Grove when he attended Garden Grove High School and attended church at St. Columbian Catholic Church on Nelson Street and Stanford Avenue are still here.
"I think it's neat in this country that as a kid you can dream of owning a business and buy that business later on," said Schierberl.
Schierberl said he's not only concerned about his restaurant customers, they are concerned about him as well and come by to see how he's doing.
"One of the Sunday favorites is biscuits and gravy," he said. "This is going to be a beautiful place when it gets done; then it'll be taking care of the customers again and it will be time to get busy again.”
Schierberl said Kaye's Kitchen has always done a big breakfast and lunch business. "I'm really looking forward to getting going as soon as possible."
Schierberl praised the Garden Grove Fire Department for doing a great job of putting out the fire quickly and for helping him know what to do next.
"I think everyone should know who their local firefighters are. It was pretty impressive watching them work and it was an eye-opening experience," said Schierberl. "I'd like to have them over for dinner when we're back up and running. Most night fires take the whole building, so they did a great job of putting the fire out.”
Most of the damage at Kaye's Kitchen is smoke and water damage, but everything has to be packaged up, taken out and cleaned so no lingering smoke smell exists.
”We have to throw away anything that got smoke in it," he said. "I never want to go through this again, and my business may be down right now, but I can tell you that good insurance matters. Our broker Cindy Churndy, who is from Garden Grove, and I've known for a long time, has been a big help.It’s nice to know the people you're dealing with and to feel someone's on your side. You never know what you have until you need it."
"Please follow us on Facebook at Kaye's Kitchen and we'll keep you posted as to our reopening time," he said.
