After Red Onion fire, North Stonington community helps pizza restaurant owners

Feb. 12--NORTH STONINGTON -- An employee of Red Onion Pizza Restaurant and the mother of another employee have planned a fundraiser to help the owners of the Route 2 restaurant following a fire there on Jan. 24.

Phoenix Dining and Entertainment is hosting the $20-a-ticket fundraiser on March 1 to help owners Christos Girikis and Billy Petsonias.

"Although insurance will cover most of the cost to repair/rebuild the restaurant, it will most likely be several months before Red Onion is up and running again," the event description on Facebook reads.

Cheryl Haase, who has worked at Red Onion since it opened in late November 2018, said insurance is covering the equipment but not lost wages, so the fundraiser is to help the owners financially survive while they are out of work.

"They've done so much for the community," Haase said. "They're such giving people, and I just felt like we needed to give back to them."

North Stonington Fire Marshal George Brennan said the fire broke out about 6:40 a.m. on Jan. 24. He said there was heavy damage in the kitchen prep area.

Brennan said the state fire marshal called state police detectives, who are in charge of the investigation. Asked about the cause of the fire, state police said it's still an active investigation.

Trooper Josue Dorelus later said it's not uncommon for local fire marshals to request the assistance of the State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit in determining the origin and cause of a structure fire.

Girikis told The Day on Monday that he and Petsonias are planning to reopen and "can't wait," but he didn't have a timeframe for reopening or know the value of the damage. Girikis said he has only been in the restaurant once since the fire, to throw away all the food.

The owner of the building, George Efthimiou, previously ran the 240 Norwich-Westerly Road restaurant, which was called Green Onion II Pizza under his operation.

It's "really sad this happened, because we're getting involved in the community," Girikis said. Haase pointed to their support of local schools and Little League.

Haase planned the fundraiser with Samantha Storey, a local realtor whose daughter was working at Red Onion.

"They had just gotten done paying off all those thousands of dollars for equipment, so they were finally in the black, and my heart just felt like, we need to do something here," Haase said. She added that she's "never worked for better people, honestly," calling Petsonias and Girikis a "breath of fresh air."

She is still looking for more raffle baskets for the fundraiser on March 1, and anyone interested in donating can contact her at (401) 230-0589 or Storey at (860) 961-9795. Those interested in attending can contact them for tickets or purchase tickets at Phoenix the day of the event.

The fundraiser is from 2 to 8 p.m., and Billy Joel tribute band Stiletto will start playing at 4:30 p.m.

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