A kitchen fire that forced Chuy’s Restaurant in northwest Bakersfield to close Tuesday morning won’t stop the popular spot from hosting its weekly car show.
The fire burned through the restaurant’s kitchen and up onto the roof Tuesday morning. General manager Drew LaSala said his first priority was getting everyone out safely.
“The only thing I cared about was getting everybody out. I don’t care if this building burns down. I really don’t. What’s important to me is the employees inside of it,” LaSala said.
LaSala said he is grateful no one was seriously hurt and expressed appreciation for firefighters. He said the restaurant is moving quickly to keep scheduled events intact and to get employees back to work so they don’t lose income.
Chuy’s plans to reopen Thursday for its weekly Cruise Night car show, which LaSala said has been around for over the past five years. Because the kitchen will remain closed, food trucks are expected to set up in the parking lot.
“What we will have that’s different since we can’t offer food right now is we’ll have food trucks out in the parking lot to help serve our guests,” LaSala said.
LaSala said 10 percent of all food truck sales will go to support the Bakersfield Burn Foundation. He said events will continue through the weekend, drinks will be served, but the kitchen will be closed.
DJ Richie Rich will continue to play music and host giveaways. Rich Soltero said the focus remains on safety and getting people back to work.
“We’re resilient, man. Put safety first and then after that you know how do we get our people back to work? Because all of us, at the end of the day, we try to put food on our table and this is how we do it,” Soltero said.
LaSala said there is no timetable for when the kitchen will reopen, but events will continue.