SOUTH DEERING — Calumet Fisheries will likely be shut down for at least “a few months” after a fire caused “extensive” damage to the Southeast Side’s beloved fish shack this week, a manager said.
The fire broke out Tuesday afternoon at Calumet Fisheries, 3259 E. 95th St., just three days after it reopened following a failed health inspection. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze, which engulfed the roof of the restaurant.
Fire officials reported no injuries, and no customers were in the restaurant when the fire broke out, assistant manager Ivan Huerta told Block Club.
Investigators determined the fire was accidental and caused by an electrical issue, Fire Department officials said. The fire started in a “large void in [an] upper area,” and the damage was “extensive,” officials said.
Damage could be seen on the roof and the sides of the building after the fire was put out. Traffic was temporarily stopped on 95th Street while at least 10 fire trucks and two ambulances responded to the scene.
Management aims to repair the damage and reopen in a few months, though they’re still “not sure” as of Wednesday whether the building can be saved, Huerta said.
“From what I’ve heard, we’re going to try to put it back together,” Huerta said. “… We’re not going to give up. We’re going to try to get it back running. Hopefully, it doesn’t take too much time.”
The city’s health agency shut down Calumet Fisheries Oct. 31 over multiple failed inspections, with inspectors finding evidence of mice and rat activity.
In the time it was closed to customers, staff cleaned, patched up walls and doors and hired a contractor to fix the building’s electrical system and wiring, staffers said upon its reopening Saturday. The business passed a health reinspection Friday.
City health records dating back to 2011 show Calumet Fisheries routinely passed its health inspections before failing one in 2019 and another in 2020.
The Chicago staple — known for its wood-smoked fish — opened in 1948 near the 95th Street Bridge over the Calumet River and has long attracted celebrities and tourists to the far South Side.
Vice President Kamala Harris picked up 3 pounds of fish from Calumet Fisheries after speaking on bridge infrastructure in January. Late chef and travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain featured Calumet Fisheries on a 2009 episode of “No Reservations.”
In 2010, Calumet Fisheries won an America’s Classics Award from the James Beard Foundation, long considered the gatekeepers of American culinary excellence.
“I’m sure we will” look to hold a community event upon reopening, as neighbors and tourists alike “always show support for us, and we try to show the same,” Huerta said. But for now, the restaurant is focusing on assessing and repairing the damage, he said.
“We should all just have hope that everything will get back in place as soon as possible,” Huerta said.
Support Local News!
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.
Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:
