Fenway restaurants, dry cleaners go up in flames; residents evacuated

Location

Fire

Peterborough St. and Kilmarnock St.

Boston

United States

42° 20' 35.196" N, 71° 5' 58.416" W

Where the restaurants used to be. By Clock.bound. More. Used under CC.

The Herald reports on the four-alarm fire that destroyed Sorentos, Umi Fenway, Rod Dee, Greek Isle, El Pelon Taqueria and Thornton's Fenway Grille on Peterborough Street early this morning. Channel 4 has video, reports the fire also forced dozens of residents out of their apartments. Channel 5 has photos.

Posted In

Submitted by adamg on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 7:48am.

El Pelon

How could you forget El Pelon? The Video I saw this morning showed smoke billowing from my favorite burrito spot...

anon-a-mouse | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 8:10am

Boston Globe where are you?

Boston.com doesn't even have its own report -- just an [url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/01/06/boston_4_alarm_fire_destroys_restaurants/]AP wire story[/url] (probably rewritten from the Herald article) and an NECN video.

Ron Newman | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 8:33am

Didn't you hear, they're a

Didn't you hear, they're a fast sinking ship!

anon (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 8:58am

Globe Has Reports Today

Story today:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/art...

And photos, including reactions/impact:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/gallery/1_6_09_FE...

There's an element of randomness in how fast a paper gets to a given scene, of course, so I wouldn't read much into single data points.

For example, a photog from a different outlet, who last year got stuck in traffic going to a major fire and didn't arrive until the fire was completely out, this time got the best shots I saw of the blaze.

neilv | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 5:54am

That's the second fire for

That's the second fire for El Pelon.

anon (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 9:07am

El Pelon fan devastated

Andy used to live kitty-corner across from El Pelon, says this is its third fire:

... The place has been my favorite cheap eats in the city for over five years now. ...

adamg | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 9:33am

El Pelon and Rod Dee 2

Are two of my favorites too. I have a garden nearby in the Fens and in the summer would go to both regularly for on my way in or out. Now where am I going to get my plantains, burritos or pad see you? At least Rod Dee has two other locations, so it may be easier for them to rebuild...

Neal | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:08am

^^ El Pelon was my Victory

^^ El Pelon was my Victory garden stop as well.

thathottness | BOS Lifestyle Blog (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:54am

The El Pelon Fan

That's right - there was a month or so in 2005 (I think? Maybe '04) when it was down, and then the larger fire last year around this time, and then this one.

The fire today was far, far worse than those previous. I wonder how the landlord (I can only assume there was one for the whole property block) is going to handle this situation. I also am quite curious to see what started the fire in Thorton's in the first place.

Andy (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 11:06pm

Cockroaches

Sorrentos burned? That probably killed a lot of cockroaches.

Car-pundit (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 9:08am

Nooooo

El Pelon was amazing. I had never gotten around to trying Thorton's, heard it was overpriced. I wonder what the cause will end up being, hopefully not an arson.

DVDWow | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 9:24am

The end of a Burrito era

All kidding aside, this really does hurt right now. I fell in love with a girl at El Pelon.

thathottness | BOS Lifestyle Blog (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 9:26am

We shall rebuild....make it stronger

I have no doubt that they will rebuild this strip (with essentially the same places). If for no other reason than I know nearly all of the Red Sox staff go to eat there at one time or another during the week.

Kaz | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 9:54am

Thornton's et al

Sox staffers and a bunch of neighborhood regulars, myself included. And this puts scores of good people out of work. Total bummer.

fenwayguy | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:30am

fenway fire KAZ IS BRAINDEAD

who the heck do you think you are???

have I met you??
do I know you??
As landlord of mentioned property, I can say that you have NO IDEA of what are writing.

Thanks for informing me what I will be doing with my property.
Do you also have lottery numbers???? Mind your own business IDIOT!!!

peteman (not verified) | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 8:24am

I'm the mayor, that's who

And what I say goes. Rebuild it, Mister.

No, wait, I'm the Queen of Sheba. I outrank the mayor now.

Then again, who knows, maybe you are the owner, maybe you have big plans for a Starbucks, maybe you set the fire, maybe you didn't, maybe you had insurance, maybe you didn't and you're ruined, maybe it was all a big magic trick...

Welcome to the internet. If you seriously think I believed that the sole reason for rebuilding the restaurants is that a nearby set of employees (the Red Sox) like to go there for lunch, then you need to disconnect the back of your computer from the wall. It is called satire, check it out sometime.

You know, I think most of us here in the area liked and patronaged at least 2/3rds of those places in that strip. If you really are the landlord, knowing that part of my dollars went to a raving loon that wants to call me names on the internet sort of sullies my desire to go back if you do rebuild it now. Congrats.

Kaz | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 9:36am

Wait!

"patronage" is a verbal?

anon (not verified) | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:12am

Sorentos had just failed a city health inspection

ISD report on Jan. 2. Nothing judged "critical," but among other things, the owners were told to:

Clean the wall to the left of the dish machine. Clean to remove the mouse droppings from the electrical boxes and equipment within the employee changing area.

adamg | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 11:22am

Some post-fire photos

Here.

adamg | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 1:58pm

Evacuating people in wheelchairs

Jessica Fargen at the Herald talks to some of the people who had to leave their apartments really quickly.

adamg | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 2:06pm

The moral of the story

Colin sighs:

... I think the moral is that if you get that burrito urge, take it. Don't just say, "Oh, I'll get one tomorrow." There might not be a tomorrow.

Dave Alpert isn't happy, either:

... If this was a movie, I'd be out on Peterborough St in the pouring rain looking to the heavens screaming, "Why, God? Why?!!!" ...

adamg | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 2:07pm

NECN report

adamg | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 2:13pm

"Six popular restaurants"

More like four.

flyinsaucier | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 2:31pm

Huh

Which two restaurants did not burn?

Ron Newman | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 2:36pm

"More like four"

And two unpopular ones?

fenwayguy | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 2:39pm

A tragic Day

I was horrified this morning on my way to my bus to work to see all the firefighters and smoke. My worst fears are true in this caes. Umi is toast, and so is the best Miso soup in town, along with half my work wardrobe from the drycleaners. i just hope all of these small business owners had insurance and they can ressurect this strip of restaurants that give Fenway a nice neighborhood charm.

J-Remy (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 3:52pm

More Peterborough Street photos

Here.

adamg | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 8:59pm

accidentally caught on video

http://www.vimeo.com/2746278

El Guapo (not verified) | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 12:20am

Wow

Great find! Thanks for posting it!

Kaz | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 12:47am

Remembering each of the restaurants

Evan, who lives in the Fenway, runs them down:

... [Greek Isles] wasn't the cheapest place to dine, but the service was always smiley and the food well worth the money. I ate here one Sunday afternoon during last month's blizzard, where the owner's son-in-law and I chatted a bit about photography and the snow as I waited for my food. The owner clearly loved working the kitchen...always smiling, serving the food with a nod and a wink, and insistent on taking my plate and utensils when I was leaving, even though it was understood that it was up to me to dispose of the trash and plates myself. Seeing a boston.com picture of his face as he was watching, alongside his daughter and son-in-law, the damage unfold today was heart-wrenching. ...

adamg | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 7:56am

Is it not okay to like Sorento's now?

Seems like everyone eulegizing the West Fens restaurants are either pointed leaving out Sorento's or talking smack about it. I always liked Sorento's. There bread was top notch and they are one of the only restaurants I've ever seen that knows how to make an extra-cheese pizza properly. After being around for 21 years, I'm really disappointed to see it go so suddenly.

BStu | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:00am