One favorite restaurant destroyed, another heavily damaged in strip mall fire in Fresno
A strip mall home to two popular restaurants was severely damaged by fire Friday morning in southeast Fresno.
The businesses in the singular building on the north side of Kings Canyon Road at Phillip Avenue included Irish O’Sullivan’s Sunnyside Lounge Restaurant and Pub and Sunnyside Deli along with a pharmacy, two hair salons and a dance studio.
The western side of the building was destroyed in the blaze, including O’Sullivan’s, while firefighters were able to save a part of Sunnyside Deli on the east side of the building thanks to a blocked wall.
The rest was smoldering ash and brick.
Firefighters were dousing the building with a hose Friday morning, but small flames could still be seen burning on the roof and parts of the exterior.
People sat in cars watching the crew work while others stopped to get cell phone footage of the damage.
There was only the slightest trails of smoke coming from the building by 8 a.m.
The fire was reported around 4:30 a.m. and when crews arrived, tall flames could be seen coming from the roof of the building.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Both O’Sullivan’s and Sunnyside Deli closed during the pandemic but reopened much to the delight of the community.
“That was what you’d call a signature place here in the Sunnyside area,” longtime O’Sullivan’s customer Mary Macias told The Bee when it reopened last spring.
Sunnyside Deli had been in its location for 38 years when it closed in March 2021 before reopening in September of that year under new ownership.
The restaurant posted news and pictures of the fire on its Facebook page Friday morning.
“The extent of the damages to the deli is still unknown,” the post said.
“We will keep you all informed with what the future holds. Keep our staff and the other businesses in your hearts.”
Another restaurant nearby, McCoy’s Coffee Shop at Kings Canyon and Clovis avenues, was destroyed by fire in October 2020. A 55-year-old woman was later arrested on suspicion of arson in that blaze.
