A fire broke out Wednesday morning, Nov. 8 in the kitchen at Avila’s El Ranchito in Huntington Beach on the 300 block of Main Street, effectively shutting down the Mexican restaurant until further notice.
“We will keep you updated as we navigate the next steps. We want to thank the HB community, especially the HB Fire Department, who worked quickly and diligently to save as much of our restaurant as they could,” the owners of Avila’s El Ranchito wrote in message posted to the restaurant’s Instagram page. “We will keep you updated as we navigate the next steps.”
In addition to the Huntington Beach Fire Department, the owners credit “Ryan, the owner of Shake Shack who called 911 when he saw the fire” for helping control the blaze before it caused any further damage.
No injuries were reported.
Avila’s El Ranchito, which has 12 other locations throughout Orange County, including Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, was founded by Salvador and Margarita Avila, who opened their first eponymous restaurant in 1966 in Huntington Park. The two passed away in 2022 and 2019, respectively.
