Kitchen Fire Closes Bartley's

At approximately 10:40 a.m. on Saturday, a fire broke out in the kitchen of Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, the famed Harvard Square hamburger joint.

A two block section of Mass. Ave. was closed as heavy smoke, produced when grease in the hood of the stove caught fire, filled the streets.

Bartley’s general manager, Billy Bartley, said it was the first significant fire in the 48 years that the restaurant has been open.

He estimated the fire caused about $10,000 in damage and said that it was unclear when the restaurant would re-open.

“Logistically there are a ton of people who we have to work with: the city, the plumber, the electrician,” he said. “We’ll be back ASAP, bigger and better than ever.”

“Better, not bigger,” he corrected himself.

No one was injured, but residents of the building and workers at the neighboring Hong Kong restaurant were asked to evacuate. Neither Bartley’s nor the Hong Kong had yet opened for the day at the time of the fire.

Graduate school students who live above Bartley’s said that the fire alarm did not sound.

Havard Law School student David C. Lee stood at the scene of the fire dressed in a bath robe. He said that it was not the fire alarm but the fire trucks that alerted him to the fire.

“I was like, ‘Oh the fire engine’s here, that always happens,’” said Mara S. Meyer, a doctoral student at the School of Public Health, who lives above the restaurant.

Fire fighters gained access to the building through the apartments on the second and third floors.

Meyer mentioned that she has been evacuated four or five times in the past two years for fire drills, but this was the first time the threat was real.

The Cambridge Fire Department classified the incident as a “working fire,” which ranks it between one-alarm and two-alarm status. Seven fire trucks were at the scene.

According to Deputy Fire Chief Steven G. Leonard, in most restaurants the hood vent releases smoke to the roof—but not at Bartley’s.

“Inspectional services will have to see,” he said.

Bartley said that he would continue to employ his workers even while the restaurant is closed for repairs.

“We’re paying all of our people,” he said. “We’ll bring in a crew and let [our workers] do some painting.”

He added that others may be sent to work at local food kitchens.

Bartley acknowledged that the repairs needed are more significant than he initially thought but said that he has been encouraged by support from Cambridge residents.

“A lot of people saw us in the news,” he said. “They’ve been driving by and honking their horns—they’ve been really encouraging.”

—Staff writer Alexandra Perloff-Giles can be reached at aperloff@fas.harvard.edu. —Staff writer Abby D. Phillip can be reached at adphill@fas.harvard.edu.