Kitchen Fire Forces Tom's Restaurant in Portland to Close Temporarily

Nick Papailiou got the call around 11 p.m. Wednesday: Tom's Restaurant & Bar was on fire. "Driving down here was pretty stressful. Pulling up to the scene was really scary," he said.

Tom's Restaurant and Bar on Southeast Division Street sustained damage after a fire broke out in the kitchen Wednesday night. According to Portland Fire & Rescue, crews responded to the restaurant at around 11 p.m. after a fire spread from the grill up to the roof. A PF&R information officer said the fire "worked its way up the flue and onto the roof," but firefighters were able to "knock down" the flare-up quickly and keep it from spreading to other areas of the building. No injuries were reported, and the fire is under investigation.

Tom's Restaurant and Bar has been a Portland fixture since Tom and Georgia Belesiu opened the diner in 1975; ownership later transferred to their daughter Antoinette and her husband Taki Papailiou. The restaurant sits on Division Street at the intersection of Cesar Chavez Boulevard in southeast Portland's Richmond neighborhood. Nick Papailiou, who spoke to reporters as a third-generation family member, put the weight of that history plainly: "It means a lot to our family; we have been in the neighborhood for 51 years."

The restaurant portion will remain closed for several weeks until repairs to the kitchen are completed, as the fire caused significant damage to the restaurant portion. Tom's staff confirmed that the diner side is closed "indefinitely," until it can be restored, but they have opened the bar side for breakfast service and are currently serving what can be cooked in a fryer. Tom's Bar reopened the same evening.

For the kitchen workers who run the diner's morning shift, the closure cuts directly into their livelihoods. The menu, based on Georgia Belesiu's original recipes, has changed little over the decades, and the greasy spoon is known for serving breakfast all day. That all-day breakfast operation, the backbone of the diner's identity and its staff's daily work, is now on hold with no firm return date.

Papailiou said the family is still working to determine the full extent of the damage and how long repairs will take. "We've never been through something like this. I don't know how long this is going to take. We are really thankful the bar will remain open for normal business hours," he said.

The restaurant posted a sign on its door informing customers of the closure following the incident. The fire investigation remains open, and no cause has been officially determined.