Calumet Fisheries will reopen this Saturday. The historic James Beard award-winning seafood restaurant on the South Side of Chicago closed temporarily after . “We had an electrical fire,” said Mark Kotlick, president of the family-owned takeout business in the South Deering neighborhood, perhaps best known for its smoked fish and fried shrimp.
The fire broke out around 1 p.m., but no one was injured.
“We had a mass response from the fire department, about a block away from us, with 10 firetrucks, 40 or 50 firemen, and they were able to save the structure, but pretty much the entire interior and all the equipment was destroyed.” The smokehouse itself, however, was not touched. “It’s kind of funny when you put a fire into a building and it stays OK,” Kotlick said.
“But yeah, that little structure’s been with us for close to 100 years now.” The smokehouse still stands just outside the restaurant, next to the 95th Street bridge overlooking the Calumet River, across from the new kitchen door. “Everything’s new,” Kotlick said about the interior.
“We had 100-year-old walk-ins, with wooden doors and wooden walls, and now I’ve got the new energy-efficient stainless steel walk-in coolers.” They did not expand, though, and there’s still no seating inside. “Because we own the building, but not the land,” he added.
“So we cannot expand on the footprint of the building.” They did conform to Chicago building codes, including compliance with the Amer.
