PARMA, Ohio — A staple in Cleveland's Slavic Village was extensively damaged after a fire broke out at the top of Red Chimney's building, but after 12 months, it has now moved to Parma for a fresh start and plans to reopen its doors this week.
Above the Red Chimney in the Slavic Village sat a handful of apartments.
Officials told News 5 last year that a fire ignited inside one of those units, and while the flames didn't reach the restaurant, the building sustained extreme water damage, which forced the Red Chimney to shut down after 26 years.
Red Chimney manager and chef, Emanuel Skantzos, told me on Tuesday, "It was tough. I was overseas with my sister. We were vacationing with our families, and then I get a FaceTime message from my cousin that the restaurant's on fire, and it was kind of tragic. I didn't believe him. It took me a good, like, 20 minutes to comprehend what was happening and still days went by and I still didn't believe it. It's been tough."
The family behind the business was devastated by the aftermath, especially by the loss of a place that had a big screen moment in the newest Superman movie.
"I don’t feel good at all cause I’ve been here 26 years," Red Chimney co-owner Pete Skantzos told us a week after the fire.
The loss totaled $300,000.
But in tragedy came the rebuilding of a dream.
Emanuel said his family tried to maintain their space in Cleveland, but quickly came to the realization that it would be nearly impossible to start from scratch with a building in that condition.
"All my family gave sweat, tears, even my staff. My staff is like family to me. They did everything possible for us to be there. To start off from the beginning, it was tough. We didn't see it," Emanuel said.
Emanuel said Red Chimney was a massive part of his life, so he didn't want to see it vanish.
The Red Chimney has now moved to Snow Road in Parma, where they're able to welcome 176 customers rather than 99 that the previous location could serve.
Emanuel said they're awaiting some final product shipments, but that most of everything to run the business is in place and ready to go.
Since announcing on social media that the restaurant would be opening soon, Emanuel said the phone line has been ringing off the hook, and several people have stopped by to see if the doors are open yet.
"It was like a madhouse," he said. "I had a phone call today. I don't know this guy. He's from Columbus. He's like, 'Hey, I heard you guys are opening.' I'm like, 'Yeah.' He's like, 'We'll be there.' All these people all over the place, you know, I have family in Carolina, Texas, Baltimore asking us when we're doing this, when we're opening, friends all over that know me that are excited for us."
Longtime Red Chimney customer, Jade Dolezal stopped by the restaurant on Tuesday, hoping to get breakfast.
"I'm happy," she said in response to seeing it open soon. "I was there for the grand opening. I worked at Rico's Beauty Salon right on Fleet Avenue, and we used to hang out there for breakfast, lunch and, of course, when we went out college nights. They were open 24 hours," Dolezal said.
Emanuel said he's very excited, still stressed, but overall ecstatic for the opportunity to serve the public again.
We stopped by the new restaurant on Tuesday to see the dining room setup, the kitchen ready to go, and the bakery counter stocked.
"That comes from a company in Chicago called Sweet Treats. We picked it up at the restaurant when we're at the Red Chimney on Fleet maybe three or four months before the fire. People love the cakes. They're delicious, homemade, you know, they're not frozen, they're fresh," Emanuel said.
"Me and my cousin, Manny, are excited for what we're gonna accomplish and show our dads what they worked hard for, and we wanna work hard for them, so if everything goes as planned. It's gonna be great," Emanuel said.
Emanuel said they've brought back previous staff and have hired some new people, too.
The restaurant is slated to open Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 6 a.m.
"Everything's gonna be the same. There's no changes at all. A little. New items on the menu that we are gonna particularly push on the customers to try, but just be patient, you know, we waited a whole year for you guys," Emanuel said.
