Just over two months after opening, a fire broke out at the downtown Redwood City location of family-owned Mediterranean restaurant Mazura while a full house of diners were eating dinner on Tuesday night.
“It happened very quickly,” co-owner Saif Macabre said.
Macabre said he was waiting in line for an exhibit when his brother and co-owner Jordan saw smoke in the hallway. The pair tried to find the source and put out the fire themselves but were unable to, forcing the evacuation of more than 100 guests who were having dinner.
“Our whole team, 20 people, ran around every floor trying to see where the fire was,” Macabre said. “We didn't find the fire. It was completely from inside.”
An initial investigation at the scene Tuesday, Macabre said, showed the cause of the fire was charcoal that had been dropped in the corner of the room near the grill. The walls are stainless steel and the floor is epoxy-coated, but the 2-inch wooden floorboards acted as a cavity that likely allowed the flames to reach the wall.
Macabre said he was told the fire had been burning for more than three hours at the time the call was made by the fire department.
“I saw how quickly everything we had built was gone,” Macabre said. “When we went back inside, we saw so many tables with food still untouched.”
The fire was reported just before 8pm and was contained within hours, and the home was inspected. Macabre said they were let back inside at about 10.30pm.
“When we walked in, it wasn't our store,” Macabre said. “There was a foot of water and foam all over the store. All the equipment was covered in firefighting stuff. It was a shock to see.”
Despite the late hour, nearby restaurants and community members came out to show their support.
“Customers, community members and restaurant owners came out to lend a hand, even when they weren't at work,” Macabre said. “Even city council members showed up at 10:30. We never expected to see so much support.”
Macabre said the owners of nearby Zarine's and Vesta Pizza offered them space in their walk-in refrigerators to store food. Unfortunately, the power was out for three hours, so there was nothing they could store.
Still, Macabre said he and his brother are ready to get back to work and are heartened by the community's support. He said the contractor is already in the process of resubmitting the proper paperwork to the city.
“We are fortunate and grateful,” Macabre said. “We had a really successful business and this is the last thing we wanted, but we intend to get back in business as soon as possible.”
Following the huge success of its San Bruno location, Mazura opened its second location at 2021 Broadway on April 1. The first location opened in March 2020, quickly rose to the top 100 on Yelp rankings, and is currently undergoing renovation. Mazura specializes in halal Eastern Mediterranean cuisine, serving traditional home-style cooking.
