Ludi’s Restaurant and Lounge in downtown Seattle closes abruptly due to kitchen fire

Aug. 15--Ludi's Restaurant and Lounge will close down a couple of weeks earlier than expected after a kitchen fire broke out early Wednesday morning and resulted in severe damage to the restaurant.

Just before 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Seattle Fire Department responded to a fire at the restaurant in downtown Seattle. According to owner Gregorio Rosas, the fire started on the stove and spread through the hood and the ducts. Rosas said no one was in the restaurant at the time. He estimates that the fire resulted in about $30,000 worth of damage to the restaurant, including water damage to the dining room.

Rosas says he is current on the quarterly cleaning of the hood system and has provided closed-circuit footage to his insurance company.

"There's no way to lie with CC TV," he says.

In an ironic twist, Rosas says Aug. 15 would've marked the 41st anniversary of his first day at The Turf, the name of the restaurant that was Ludi's predecessor before Rosas took over the space in 2001.

The Filipino diner was already scheduled to close at the end of August because it had lost its lease. Rosas was actively seeking another affordable location for the diner, but now, things are up in the air.

"I can't cry over it," Rosas says about the fire.

"I am joyful because I enjoyed many years. You have to savor the good from the bad. Bad things happen, but most of my life is good, 90 percent. Why would you cry on 10 percent? That's nothing over time," he says.

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