SOUTH CHICAGO — Beloved seafood shack Calumet Fisheries is on its way to recovery, and it could reopen by spring, staff said this week.
Calumet Fisheries, 3259 E. 95th St., was ravaged by a fire in November, just three days after it reopened following a failed health inspection. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze, which engulfed the roof of the restaurant.
Management hoped to repair the damage and reopen in a few months, though they were “not sure” whether the building could be saved in the fire’s immediate aftermath, assistant manager Ivan Huerta said at the time.
Despite those initial concerns, crews have made major progress to finish the exterior, plumbing and some electrical work as of this week, owner Mark Kotlick told Block Club via Facebook Monday.
Drywalling and other interior work will continue this week, new refrigeration equipment is on order, and management hopes to finish all repairs by early April, Kotlick said.
Investigators determined the November fire was accidental and caused by an electrical issue. The fire started in a “large void in [an] upper area,” and the damage was “extensive,” Fire Department officials said.
Major damage could be seen on the roof and the sides of the building after the fire was put out. Fire officials reported no injuries, and no customers were in the restaurant when the fire broke out, Huerta told Block Club at the time.
Calumet Fisheries, 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 the shop 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 gatekeeper 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 in November.
“We should all just have hope that everything will get back in place as soon as possible,” she said.
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