Beloved San Jose eatery rises from the ashes
SAN JOSE - San Jose staple Holder's Country Inn was recently destroyed in a major fire, but that hasn't deterred the staff and management from dusting themselves off and getting back to work.
It's been about a week since owner Efren Flores watched on as a fire reduced his restaurant to rubble.
"Never in a million years did I think anything like this would ever happen to me," he said. "I couldn't believe my eyes. It was that fast. The fire just caught on and pretty much just destroyed the entire building."
Flores owns the beloved neighborhood spot located at 998 S. De Anza Blvd. in San Jose. The fire destroyed his restaurant, marking an unexpected ending to this chapter of Holder's Country Inn's story.
"The fire destroyed everything," he said. "We know for sure it's a total loss. Nothing in the building is salvageable."
But unlike the lingering smell of smoke, Flores isn't lingering on the past week. He is now focused on the next chapter for the restaurant.
"I'm definitely looking forward to rising up out of the ashes and moving to a new location," he said. "We're trying to find a spot as close as possible to here. We have a few spots in mind we're going to be looking at later this week. So hopefully we're able to get something in the near future."
Flores takes pride in the restaurant and in the people who keep it running day-in and day-out. He wants to relocate as soon as they can, temporarily at least, so he can keep his entire staff on the payroll. Many of them have worked at the restaurant for decades, he says.
"All of the employees here are like family," he said. "We definitely want to keep them and take care of them. As soon as we find a new spot, we're going to go back in full force."
He says the plan is to eventually rebuild and reopen at the De Anza location.
"We do plan to come back. This is a place where we call home. It has a lot of sentimental value for a lot of us," he said.
In the meantime, he's grateful for all of the support he's received from people in the community.
"So many people want to help out. The community is just so close here," he said. "It's very devastating. But, I try to live every day one step at a time. I know it can be very stressful, but I try to keep my head up."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.