Fish Market Reopens After May Fire

A popular downtown restaurant reopened Monday after a fire forced the establishment to close its doors for more than two months. 

The Fish Market, its sushi, oyster and cocktail bars, as well as the restaurant’s retail seafood market, reopened its doors for the lunch crowd.

A grease fire sent columns of heavy black smoke above downtown San Diego on May 27.

The restaurant, located on North Harbor Drive just south of USS Midway Museum, suffered heavy fire and water damage following the blaze. No one was injured. 

The fire was caused on the roof in the hood system from one of the kitchens, said Dwight Colton, VP of Operations.

He said the restaurant community and the Port of San Diego reached out to help after the fire.

“We began rebuilding the very next day,” Colton said. “We wanted to make the restaurant better.”

Diners can expect new fabrics, new paint colors, new ceiling design and new lighting.

"We wanted to make the experience lighter so when people walked in they would see it's a different Fish Market," he said. 

While it was closed, the waterfront icon retained nearly all of their 300 employees.

“We have people who’ve worked here since the day the restaurant opened in 1989,” Colton said. “The first charge from ownership was to make sure the employees got taken care of.”

He said the team is grateful to those loyal customers who are anticipating the restaurant's return.

The Top of the Market experienced the most damage and will remain closed for another six to eight weeks.

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