The Fresh Kitchen restaurant in South Tampa will close indefinitely after a fire broke out inside the building early Monday morning.
Tampa Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Vivian Shedd said firefighters responded to the scene of a report of a fire at the restaurant at 1350 South Howard Avenue around 4:45 a.m. Smoke was coming from the roof of the two-story building at that point, Shedd said in an email.
Shedd Fisheries said firefighters entered the building to try to put out the fire from the inside, but then the situation changed and they left, took up defensive positions and continued battling the fire from the outside and from above.
Firefighters closed off South Howard Avenue to vehicle and pedestrian traffic in both directions between West Southview Avenue and Stroud Avenue while crews worked on the scene. Tampa Fire Rescue announced in a post on X at 12:41 p.m. Monday that Howard Avenue has reopened.
No injuries were reported. Investigators were working Monday to determine the cause of the fire.
Fresh Kitchen's Facebook and Instagram pages posted on Monday that the restaurant would remain closed “until we figure out how to rebuild our iconic flagship location.”
The post said the company planned to celebrate its 10th anniversary at the location, which it called “our little 'Howard Street home.'”
“We are incredibly grateful that no one was injured,” the post read. “We are still trying to make sense of this and are committed to making sure our team feels supported during this difficult time.”
The post encouraged area customers to visit the West Shore location, 4616 W. Kennedy Blvd., about four miles west of the South Howard restaurant.
