Fire temporarily closes Corpus Christi's BKK thai kitchen + bar

Kathryn Cargo | Corpus Christi

BKK thai kitchen + bar will be closed for the near future.

An electrical fire started behind a refrigerator in the restaurant's back food prep room at about 3 a.m. Tuesday, owner Ryan Rios said. The fire was contained to the back room.

"My father was a policeman for 35 years. One of his former coworkers was driving through the center and noticed it and called my dad," Rios said. "My family came over here in the middle of the night at 3 a.m., and the fire fighters got into the building and were able to contain the fire."

The rest of the restaurant didn't sustain fire damage, but does have standing water from the fire fighters containing the fire.

The restaurant is located at 3850 S. Alameda St. at the Lamar Park Shopping Center. Smoke migrated into other businesses at the center, but they didn't sustain any damage, said Randy Paige, fire marshal for the Corpus Christi Fire Department.

Rios has already started meeting with the city's development services and health department to see what he needs to do to reopen BKK thai kitchen + bar. He doesn't have a timeline yet.

He has plans to open a nearby Mexican restaurant at the shopping center in about two weeks called YOLA cocina mexicana. Rios said he may move equipment over from the Thai restaurant to the new one's space and open there temporarily.

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