A longtime Isla Vista restaurant beloved for its late-night fried bites is closed after a fire broke out Tuesday, but its owner plans to repair the damage and reopen in the coming months.
Santa Barbara County Fire Department firefighters knocked down the fire at Deja Vu Cafe — which opened nearly four decades ago — in the early morning hours. No one was injured, according to fire Capt. Mike Gray.
The official cause of the fire that broke out at 966 Embarcadero del Mar was still under investigation as of Friday, Gray told Noozhawk.
Deja Vu Cafe owner and founder John Djamali told Noozhawk it is believed an electrical issue started the fire.
One of the restaurant’s walls was burned by the flames, and the roof was damaged during the extinguishing process, he said.
The restaurant also sustained major smoke damage.
“The smoke got all around the walls, and we have to replace a lot…the walls, redo the floor and ceiling,” he said.
He said he is still trying to process what happened.
“This was like my kid,” he said. “I have been here every day. It’s part of my heart.”
Djamali plans to restore the restaurant to what it once was and estimates it will take him a couple of months to be operational again.
He hopes to reopen by UC Santa Barbara’s alumni weekend in October.
He is just beginning to assess and inspect the damage to begin restorations, he added.
“I am just figuring out to see if I can get this together as quickly as possible, but right now it is out of my hands,” he said. “There is a process that we have to go through, and it’s going to take a while.”
While currently closed and behind yellow caution tape, Deja Vu Cafe’s legacy does not end here, he said.
“This is a historical part of Isla Vista, and I can’t let it go, no matter what. I have to open it up,” Djamali said.
Deja Vu Cafe’s neighbor, Chef 81, a Chinese restaurant, also had yellow caution tape blocking the restaurant’s entrance on Friday.
Djamali said firefighters had to cut open Chef 81’s lock to assess for any fire damage.
Chef 81 sustained no fire damage, and it is temporarily closed for the summer, he added.
Chef 81 did not immediately respond to Noozhawk’s request for comment.
