Avila’s El Ranchito in Huntington Beach closed due to early morning kitchen fire

Avila’s El Ranchito Mexican restaurant in Huntington Beach is temporarily closed after a kitchen fire broke out early Wednesday, damaging the Main Street structure and sending smoke into the adjacent Rockin’ Fig surf shop, city officials reported.

Jennifer Carey, the city’s public affairs manager, said the building was yellow-tagged by building inspectors as proprietors of the business waited on county health officials to inspect the property.

She confirmed the Huntington Beach Fire Department got a call at 5:50 a.m. regarding a fire at the popular downtown restaurant that appears to have started in the facility’s kitchen.

A yellow-tag notice issued by the city of Huntington Beach outside Avila’s El Ranchito restaurant, where an early morning fire destroyed the business’ kitchen.

(Courtesy of Susie Smith-Coelho)

Firefighters soon after arrived on scene and were assisted by units from Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley in extinguishing the two-alarm fire.

“They were able to knock it down pretty quickly, so the damage was limited,” Carey said. “As of now, the building is yellow tagged. They’re waiting for the Orange County Health Department to come in and check out the kitchen.”

Unlike a red tag — which prohibits entry into a structure due to its potential instability — a yellow-tag closure following a fire allows for limited entry but precludes a business from remaining open to the public while the integrity of the building is being evaluated.

On Wednesday afternoon an employee who answered the phone at El Ranchito confirmed the business was closed and said the restaurant manager was tied up on phone calls and not immediately available for an interview.

A two-alarm fire started in the kitchen of Avila’s El Ranchito on Wednesday morning in Huntington Beach.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Located in a strip mall on the 300 block of Main Street, El Ranchito has since 1999 occupied a storefront situated between Makin’ Waves hair salon and Rockin’ Fig Surf Headquarters, the latter of which reportedly suffered from smoke and water damage.

Susie Smith-Coelho, the owner of Makin’ Waves, said she was awoken by news of the fire, the first to have happened in her 27 years of occupancy at the site.

“Someone started calling me at about 10 minutes after 6 a.m. I came racing down and they had already broken down the door,” she said by phone as her door was in the process of being replaced.

The salon owner said the damage would have been much worse had someone from the nearby Sugar Shack Cafe not been setting up outdoor chairs and tables when the blaze broke out.

TimesOC

Salvador Avila’s legacy lives on through his family-owned El Ranchito restaurants

Salvador Avila passed away last week at 99, leaving behind a family business that includes 12 locations throughout Orange County.

Aug. 10, 2022

“He smelled smoke and called 911,” she added. “If that didn’t happen the way it did, our whole block would have burned. If it had happened at 3 a.m., no one would have called. We’re extremely grateful.”

Next door, the scene at El Ranchito was much worse, according to Smith-Coelho. The kitchen had completely burned and appeared melted, but the dining room was largely unscathed. Fortunately, no one was at the restaurant when the fire started.

“It is really sad for El Ranchito, for the owners and all the employees who may be displaced through the holidays. But they’ll rebuild,” she said. “It could have been so much worse.”