Rebuilding after fire, Pieloon hopes to reopen by Christmas

Saul Haro

DOWNEY – Loyal customers of Pieloon restaurant will have to order their Thanksgiving feasts from someplace else this year.

The restaurant, however, hopes to open in time for Christmas.

An electrical fire erupted at Pieloon last May, sending flames shooting through the building’s attic. Twenty-two firefighters responded to the blaze and kept the flames from spreading.

Pieloon owner Saul Haro said restoration work is entering its final stages. Although the restaurant won’t be open in time for Thanksgiving, he’s hoping for a mid-December opening.

“Pieloon is an institution in Downey,” Haro said. “We’re one of the last true Downey restaurants. It’s us and Stox, basically.

“You know, accidents happen and I accept it. It could have been much worse. We’re coming back stronger and with more energy.”

A worker inside PIeloon restaurant on Nov. 5. Photos and video by Eric Pierce

Haro said most of his original staff will return when Pieloon is ready to re-open, including the cooks and front of the house workers. Employees were paid two months’ wages after the fire.

Haro credited Downey police officers and firefighters for helping to save the restaurant. A Downey police officer on patrol was the first person to spot the flames and helped evacuate customers and staff.

“My hats off to the firefighters and police,” Haro said. “They did such a good job. This place could have been destroyed.”

The fire was the second at Pieloon this decade. A 2010 electrical fire closed Pieloon for six weeks.

Haro, 62, said he never contemplated walking away after the most recent fire.

“I have two kids in college, I need to work,” Haro half-joked. “I’m not ready to retire. I don’t know how to do anything else.”