The fire-damaged Key City Diner in Lopatcong Township will take months to rebuild. HereÕs a look Saturday at the restaurant gutted by fire Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com
Some folks pulled in the parking lot Saturday, but nobody stopped for breakfast at the Key City Diner.
They’ll have to find a new place for a good meal for the next several months, maybe longer, according to the co-owner.
The diner at 985 Route 22 in Lopatcong Township was gutted by a fire that started in the roof and quickly spread Friday afternoon. Charred remains were everywhere Saturday.
John Theodoropoulos, one of the co-owners of the family business, said he’s fortunate firefighters knocked the blaze down quickly.
“Otherwise it was going to be all dust,” the despondent co-owner said Saturday. Firefighters from Lopatcong Township, Phillipsburg, Harmony Township, Pohatcong Township and Alpha responded to the blaze.
His son, Greg Theodoropoulos, said firefighters showed up a minute or two after someone called for help.
“They were here remarkably fast,” he said. The fire traveled inside the walls, making it tough to find and to fight, he said.
A gang of workers spent Saturday morning throwing perishables into a large metal trash bin. John Theodoropoulos frowned as a worker attempted to mop up the mess. The diner reeked of smoke.
The family is taking it day by day but they do plan to reopen.
“It will take months, definitely months. Maybe a lot longer than that,” John Theodoropoulos said.
Greg Theodoropoulos said the fire started in an outside floodlight. The Warren County fire marshal didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Saturday on the fire’s cause.
Firefighters pulled back the metal roof to get to the source of a fire that gutted the Key City Diner in Lopatcong Township.. HereÕs a look Saturday at the restaurant gutted by fire Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com
Another Lopatcong Township diner on Route 22 caught fire the same day. The owner of the Catch 22 Diner said an old old neon light caused his diner to go up in flames at 2 a.m. Friday.
The Key City Diner was built in the 1950s. Theodoropoulos’ family bought it in 2000. Greg Theodoropoulos and his mother run it, according to Greg Theodoropoulos. John Theodoropoulos and his brother run the Nazareth Diner, Greg Theodoropoulos said.
Greg Theodoropoulos said the family received an outpouring of support.
“Thanks to everyone who has reached out, thanks to all the customers, friends, family,” he said. He said his email inbox was full and his Facebook account was full of direct messages after the fire.
“Everyone was fine, thank god. Nobody got hurt. That’s the most important thing,” Greg Theodoropoulos said.
Lots of work lies ahead: designing the renovation, finding a builder, getting the job done. John Theodoropoulos and his family are focused on cleaning up the mess before entering the rebuilding stage.
“If they do it in six months, I’ll be happy,” he said.
“We can’t wait to open up and bring the community back to their diner,” Greg Theodoropoulos said.
The fire-damaged Key City Diner in Lopatcong Township will take months to rebuild. HereÕs a look Saturday at the restaurant gutted by fire Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com
The fire-damaged Key City Diner in Lopatcong Township will take months to rebuild. HereÕs a look Saturday at the restaurant gutted by fire Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com
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