A fire Thursday night caused “extensive” damage to a prominent restaurant on the Near West Side.
Firefighters responded just after 10 p.m. to a fire at Palace Grill, 1408 W. Madison St., Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. The restaurant was closed at the time.
A preliminary investigation indicates a grease fire that started in the kitchen near a grill. It was put out “relatively quickly,” Langford said, after firefighters cut a hole in the roof and poured a “considerable amount” of water on the flames.
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The interior sustained “extensive” damage in the kitchen area, but the building “appears to be intact,” he said.
Video and photos from the scene show significant damage in the bar and kitchen area, with windows shattered and part of the ceiling collapsed.
"I just assumed I thought it would be something small, but it kept blowing up and blowing up," Palace Grill owner George Lemperis said. "When I got here and I saw the damage, I was stunned."
Early Friday, crews were seen boarded up the windows and doors of the restuarant, which will be closed Friday.
No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
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Palace Grill, about five blocks from the United Center, opened in 1938 and has been a popular spot over the years for hockey players, police officers and firefighters.
Famous for its breakfast, then-Vice President Al Gore once treated Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin to a visit there. It also was featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”