An early morning fire dealt significant damage today to a beloved Mexican restaurant in East Long Beach.
The blaze sparked around 6:50 a.m. at Casa Sanchez #1 on the corner of East Anaheim Street and Termino Avenue, according to the Long Beach Fire Department.
The restaurant’s owner, Tony Aguirre, said he found out about the blaze when he got a call from a worker who comes in early to clean and cook beans.
A neighbor took and shared with them a photo that showed the back half of the restaurant engulfed in flames, Aguirre said.
Firefighters responded and knocked down the flames within 20 minutes, said LBFD spokesperson Brian Fisk.
The blaze destroyed the office and bathroom at the southeast portion of the building and damaged the awning covering an outdoor patio, Aguirre said. The inside dining area and the kitchen were largely intact.
“It’s something that changes your life in one moment,” Aguirre said in Spanish.
The restaurant specializes in Sonoran-style Mexican food such as wet burritos, nachos and carne asada, Aguirre said. It has stood on the corner of East Anaheim Street and Termino Avenue since 1975, when his uncle started the business after moving to Long Beach from Jalisco, Mexico.
Since then, the restaurant expanded to two other locations: one on East Pacific Coast Highway near Rose Avenue and another one in Garden Grove called Los Sanchez Restaurant.
Aguirre began working at the restaurant in East Long Beach in 1981 and eventually came to own the chain.
His phone has been ringing nonstop all morning with messages of sympathy and support from longtime patrons, Aguirre said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Aguirre wasn’t sure how long the restaurant will be closed or if it will reopen.
“If God wants, we’ll build another restaurant, a better one,” Aguirre said.