Oggi’s restaurant in Fresno’s Tower District could be closed for six months after fire

Oggi Cosi Si Mangia, the little Italian restaurant in the Tower District, could be closed for six months.

A fire hit the business last week — and did serious damage to the kitchen.

Owner Louie Maglieri could not immediately be reached for comment, but a recent post on the restaurant’s Facebook page said it could be closed for six months.

It’s still not clear what started it Thursday morning, but most of the damage is in the kitchen, Fresno Fire Department public information officer Josh Sellers told The Bee on Tuesday. The department responded to a call of smoke coming from the building at 7:20 a.m. Thursday when no one was in the restaurant.

“There was significant damage to the kitchen portion that was going to need to require a remodel,” he said. “The appliances are damaged, as well as the kitchen/cooking area itself.”

A representative of Oggi told The Bee in 2021 they had installed all new kitchen equipment as it bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restaurant — on Van Ness Avenue just south of Olive Avenue — is frequently called a hidden gem for its unassuming house-like exterior. Its cozy interior, a patio decorated with string lights and a gregarious owner have attracted loyal fans.

The food gets good reviews also: Oggi was named one of Fresno’s Top 10 Italian restaurants by Yelp.com.

It’s a busy time of year for the restaurant, which had booked holiday parties and other events.

The restaurant apologized in its Facebook post to the people who booked the restaurant over the next few months. It said it was unable to reach out to them because their contact information was lost in the fire.

“I hope that you all find another venue,” the post said. “Thanks to all my loyal customers we really appreciate it and hopefully we’ll see you when we get going again. Thanks.”

Restaurants can take a long time to reopen after a fire. Insurance claims can take months before work on rebuilding can start.

When the kitchen at Italian restaurant Five in north Fresno caught fire in 2018, it was closed for more than a year, with smoke and water damage affecting the entire space.

The classic Tower District spot Livingstone’s was closed for two years after an arsonist set it ablaze in 2016.