NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – The Fireplace, an iconic New Jersey restaurant, said it would close Friday after more than six decades in business—the latest local institution lost to the pandemic.
The restaurant, which has been slinging burgers on Route 17 in Paramus since 1956, made the announcement in a Facebook post on Thursday night.
“We are saddened to inform you that we have made the difficult decision to close our doors,” the post reads. “Over the past months, we have had an increasingly difficult time covering the costs of running our restaurant.”
The Bergen County mainstay which has been a go-to place for generations of families struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic. It closed for three months last summer and then reopened in September with drive-thru service and curbside pickup as indoor dining resumed in the state, according to NJ.com.
Customers shared their memories of the restaurant on Facebook as they mourned its closing in more than 1,000 comments. Many said they had been going there for decades and that their family's patronage spanned generations.
“My family is so sad to hear this,” Candace Sposa wrote. “We have dined at The Fireplace on many a Friday evening over many years. The Fireplace is a Bergen County institution and will be sorely missed by so many.”
One resident, Dave Brown, started a GoFundMe “relief fund” for the restaurant, writing that he was “devastated” by its sudden closure.
“This restaurant is cherished by so many, and we owe it to future generations to keep their doors open and not let the economic pressures from COVID-19 take it away from us,” Brown wrote.
On Friday, a line of customers snaked through the inside of the restaurant out the door and around the parking lot as dozens came to bid a final farewell to the beloved establishment.
"I was heartbroken," one customer said. "The Fireplace has been an iconic place for all these years."
Owner Patrick Reilly's dad opened the place 65 years ago.
"Unfortunately because of the business climate right now we're not doing enough business to stay open," Reilly said.
He appreacited the large crowd but said, "Well to be frank, I kind of wish these people came the last six months."
The family business could be reinvented, WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported.
Related
