Hamburger Mary’s Jax has significant damage after an electrical fire spread quickly throughout the restaurant.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Fire ripped through a popular Jacksonville restaurant in the early hours of Thursday morning. Hamburger Mary’s doors are closed today after a fire destroyed the inside of the restaurant.
“All the mementos in there from us and the 12 years of people sending us letters about how we changed their life, things like that can never be replaced,” said Gary Motes, “this was my dream.”
That dream, along with signed memorabilia from bands like Nirvana, is now charred and covered in ash after a fire destroyed the inside of Hamburger Mary’s on Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville. But Gary Motes’ thoughts are not with material possessions.
“Our main concern is with our employees, we’re a family, we’ve always been a family,” said Motes, who hopes to host fundraisers to help keep his 15 employees paid over the next few weeks.
Before the fire Hamburger Mary’s hosted drag shows and performances for people in Jacksonville since 2012. Other Hamburger Mary’s locations across the state have been the subject of a lawsuit regarding adult live performances, but Motes said his location has always been welcoming.
“We’ve been there for the community and for people to have a good time,” said Motes, “it’s a safe place for people to come and enjoy yourself.”
The fire is still under investigation, but it’s believed to be an electrical fire that started in a breaker box that spread quickly.
“There’s a lot of memories and things that can’t be replaced but glad that nobody got hurt and glad that we have the willpower and the love to rebuild this thing, and we will,” said Motes.
Hamburger Mary’s does have a large patio just next to the restaurant and the patio itself was not damaged in the fire. The Motes family hopes to be able to operate the business in some capacity here while they rebuild the inside of the restaurant.
“We were really looking forward to January, this year was a tough year with all the controversy,” said Motes, “we do a lot of business during the wedding season so we were looking forward to January. It’s just a setback, we’ll get it back open by January.”
For more information about Hamburger Mary’s as well as updates about the business and potential fundraisers, visit their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HamburgerMarysJax
