Original Joe’s still working to reopen in Walnut Creek after kitchen fire

More than a week after its splashy red-ribbon opening in Walnut Creek on Aug Original Joe s remains closed following a kitchen fire that has left the owners of the legendary Italian-American restaurant still uncertain about when they can reopen In a announcement Friday evening the Duggan family informed this news organization that the facility improvements were under way at the new Original Joe s Walnut Creek on a prime corner in the city s Broadway Plaza shopping center But they could not provide an estimated timeline for when the repairs would be completed We look forward to sharing details on our reopening as it becomes available the comment declared The fire was released to the Contra Costa Fire Protection District just after midnight Monday The damage it caused wasn t considered major but it forced Original Joe s to close its doors just three days after orchestrating one of the buzziest new-restaurant openings in the city s downtown for quite specific time To herald Original s Joe s third Bay Area location a priest gave a blessing and Walnut Creek s mayor made a speech followed by an old-fashioned ribbon cutting People lined up around the block to get seats after the restaurant officially opened its doors at a m Diners were eager to enjoy a taste of the hearty home-style pastas appetizers burgers and other dishes for which Original Joe s first became famous in San Francisco nearly years ago But seven days later evidence of ongoing repairs from the fire damage could be seen from the restaurant lobby On Thursday evening the restaurant s signature exhibition kitchen which is open to the main dining room was hidden behind a tarp Original Joe s Walnut Creek enjoyed an incredible opening weekend according to the Duggan family declaration Before the fire the restaurant s Instagram account was filled with messages from people talking about trying to points reservations We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of concern and help we have received over the last week from the Walnut Creek public and across the Bay Area the comment noted It mentioned that the city of Walnut Creek was doing what it can to help with the reopening and restaurant employees were still engaged with ongoing club trainings At the grand opening co-owner John Duggan mentioned the new restaurant was providing employment to people The Duggan family s decision to open its newest Original Joe s location in Walnut Creek was seen as a reminder that the city remains the nexus of way of life retail and dining in the East Bay suburbs I think of Walnut Creek as the epicenter of the East Bay Duggan revealed at the event He is the grandson of Tony Rodin who opened the first Original Joe s in the Tenderloin before World War II I think people have been coming to Broadway Plaza to shop for years I think they ve celebrated multiple moments here in other restaurants and this corner was just a big corner that had the bones for our brand he also mentioned Duggan was talking about the corner of Broadway Plaza and South Main Street which was formerly the site of the popular Stanford s restaurant Duggan and his co-owner sister Elena Duggan spent the past several years converting that former eatery into a stylish -square-foot space fronted by the iconic yellow-gold Original Joe s sign A key feature of the Walnut Creek dining is the counter seating looking onto the open kitchen a hallmark of Original Joe s restaurants According to John Duggan Original Joe s helped pioneer this concept going back to the Tenderloin location which started as a -stool counter It s kind of common to see that now in restaurants but as I reliably say the counter is the original communal table he stated