The next-door sister restaurant to AQ, TBD suffered a weird, between-the-walls fire last night around 1 a.m. that led to the fire department punching holes in the ceiling and letting in a bunch of rain. As Eater reports, this means the restaurant will be closed for at least a week for repairs.
The weirdness started earlier in the evening when, during a corporate holiday event, the restaurant's fire system was triggered, spraying fire-retardant foam all over the kitchen area. The staff wasn't able to locate the fire, however, and neither could the SFFD when they arrived on the scene. The party had to get sent home, though, and the restaurant shuttered for the night.
But then around 1 a.m., staffers at AQ noticed smoke coming from next door (in between the restaurants is actually De La Paz Coffee), and the SFFD was called back to the scene. They then located a fire burning in the wall between TBD and De La Paz, which had to be put out by punching holes in the wall and ceiling. De La Paz reportedly suffered the worst of the damage.
AQ and TBD owner Matt Semmelhack says the cause of the fire is still unknown, and might be electrical, but did not originate in the TBD kitchen.