Restaurant Owner Hopes To Reopen From Fire In 2 Months

SOUTH HEMPSTEAD, NY — The next step for the owners of Curbside Mexican Grill is to begin the rebuilding as a fire forced the eatery to close indefinitely.

The restaurant, which opened in Sept. 2019, had a fire earlier in the week with employees there. But no one was hurt and everyone evacuated safely.

Brandon Porcasi, one of the owners, said the freak fire happened in the walls next to the cook line.

Porcasi, from Franklin Square, said most of the damage came from smoke and water left behind by firefighters.

"We're still wrapping our heads around the whole thing," Porcasi told Patch. "My ideal timeline would be two months."

As it's his livelihood and his staffers, Porcasi wants to get the restaurant back on its feet as soon as possible.

He recently signed a lease to open a new location in Plainview, another reason Porcasi needs to get income back.

While working there way back, a GoFundMe page was created and received more than $3,000 in donations.

"The support that we've gotten since this happened has been incredible, obviously," he said. "We have so many loyal customers and people that just want to help any way they can."