People were eating and waiting to be seated like any other weekend at the restaurant, she said. The four friends were seated near the kitchen.
Waitress Madelyn Nahas was putting in an order. It was just like normal, until she walked into the back of the ?restaurant.
Toward the end of their meal they started to smell smoke, Rodriguez said. Then, Nahas saw it billowing out of the walk-in area of the restaurant.
Later in the day, it was confirmed the fire started around noon Sunday. No one was injured, but the Village Deli will be closed for an unknown amount ?of time.
“We didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” Rodriguez said.
But then Rodriguez and her friends looked into the kitchen windows to look at the smoke. Lights in the dining room flickered on and off until they stayed off. Patrons were calmly told to evacuate.
“I’m glad it happened so quick and that we were able to move everyone,” Nahas said. “But it’s insane.”
Responders arrived on the scene immediately after. Staff and customers evacuated quickly, Nahas said.
Authorities and owners of the Village Deli did not respond to various attempts to verify how the fire started, though the staff confirmed it was located in the kitchen area.
“It hit electrical lines,” ?Nahas said.
Kirkwood Avenue was cleared later in the day, but remnants of Sunday’s brunch lingered. Half-empty coffee cups and nibbled biscuits remained in place while employees cleared produce from the back of the building through the evening.
Bloomington Fire Department Battalion Chief Rick Petermichael said Sunday afternoon on the site that the building remains sturdy.
Staff members were taken in one at a time in the afternoon to gather belongings.
“It was really sad,” Rodriguez said. “We were just thinking about all of the servers. It was hard to think about that.”
Staff at the Village Deli said they are also concerned about what to do for work until the restaurant ?reopens.
Server Morgan Anderson was working in the backhouse when the fire happened. He said his first thought was “new job,” adding that many people who work at the restaurant are unable to wait until the Village Deli opens up again.
The portion of Kirkwood Avenue was blocked off during the response to the fire. Customers hoping to eat at Village Deli were still approaching the scene in the early afternoon, as no damage was done to the front.
Though many walked away with a free meal, Rodriguez and her friends found their waitress outside and gave her money for her ?service.
Bari Goldman ?contributed to this story.
