Flames shut down a family-owned Chula Vista taco shop Saturday night.
The owner says he stepped away for a few moments because he was going to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with his wife, but when he came back, he pulled up and noticed smoke all throughout the building.
He said the smokey smell was not his tacos.
“I started seeing smoke was coming out,” Rigo Munoz said.
Chula Tacos’ owner, Rigo Munoz, said the whole lobby of his restaurant was engulfed in smoke Saturday night.
He said he couldn’t see the flames, but he could smell something burning.
“I called 911 right away, I ran inside the store, I told all our customers to please evacuate, all of my employees to please leave, get out,” Munoz said.
One neighbor captured video as fire crews tried to access the fire from the roof.
“To see it going up in smoke and almost on fire, it was almost impossible for me to believe,” Munoz said.
Munoz said a cashier was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, but she has since returned home.
“We certainly appreciate all the messages of support we’ve been receiving from our customers, our family, our friends, it’s really uplifted our morale in this moment, it’s a rough moment, so that really helps,” Munoz said.
Munoz said the family-owned business had been around for eight years and they had just opened this location two months ago.
He said his biggest concern is making sure his employees are taken care of.
“We all have plans, and we all have budgets,” Munoz said.
He’s choosing to remain optimistic and trust that brighter days are ahead.
“There’s a great God in heaven that has everything under his control,” Munoz said.
Munoz said he is waiting for the insurance adjuster to assess the extent of the damages.
We reached out to the Chula Vista Fire Department to ask about the cause of the fire and are awaiting a response.
Munoz anticipates the location on H Street to remain closed for about three months.