Tap Restaurant in South Surrey is up and running and serving customers again, seven and a half weeks after being closed down by a fire.
The Rosemary Heights business – at 101-15350 34 Ave. – had closed its doors following the conflagration that erupted after oil in a deep-fryer ignited in the early afternoon of May 1.
Patrons and employees, as well as people from neighbouring businesses, were able to exit the building safely. There were no injuries and fire crews were able to get the blaze extinguished quickly with mostly water damage, according to deputy fire chief Dan Barnscher. Re-opening hinged on an inspection by Fraser Health.
Manager-executive chef Alastair Veen acknowledged it had taken “longer than anticipated” to re-open.
“I was told it would be three to three-and-a-half weeks. But there were a couple of issues with the restoration. There was damage to our suite and the building itself… and the extent of damage was more severe than anyone realized.”