Ravens campers and restaurant regulars alike will have to wait until Tuesday to devour the famous hot dogs and cole slaw served at a well-known Westminster landmark.
“The regulars are very upset,” said Sindy Kertiss, manager at Harry?s Main Street Grille, which caught fire Friday. “We literally have people asking, ?Where are we supposed to go to read the paper?? ”
The state fire marshal?s office is still investigating the cause of the fire, which a breakfast cook discovered in the basement, where paper products are stored.
The restaurant, a popular downtown destination for 60 years, suffered $10,000 in structural damage, but the estimated loss for the contents of the business, located at 65 W. Main St. and owned by Harry Sirinakis, is still being determined, deputy state fire marshal W. Faron Taylor said Sunday.
Firefighters squelched the blaze in less than 10 minutes, but the fire has temporarily closed the doors to Harry?s at the start of its peak season, Kertiss said, which begins when the Baltimore Ravens come to town for training camp at McDaniel College.
“There?s never a good time for a fire, and obviously, Fridays and Saturdays are our busiest days of the week,” she said.
A cleaning and restoration crew has been busy readying the eatery for its reopening Tuesday, and after that, managers expect it to be business as usual.
“I don?t anticipate this to affect future business,” Kertiss said.
About 40 firefighters from the Westminster, Pleasant Valley, Manchester and New Windsor fire departments and Westminster police responded to the fire, which set off an alarm at 6 a.m. Friday, according to the state fire marshal?s office.
Chef Dominick Trullo said this is the first time Harry?s caught fire in the five years he has worked there.
Sirinakis, who is on vacation in Greece, could not be reached for comment.
