Morning Starts With Three-Alarm Fire At Cafe Sbisa (Update, Sbisa is OKAY)

UPDATE 2 p.m.: Cafe Sbisa may have suffered only smoke damage, as the Times-Pic and Advocate report that the fire actually broke out next door. UPDATE 10:30 a.m.: The Advocate is now reporting that the fire broke out on the second floor of an apartment building "in the 1000 block of Decatur...It quickly spread to the third floor and the roof, prompting the department to ring a third alarm for more manpower." Right now The TP is the only source reporting that the fire broke out at Cafe Sbisa, which is located in the 1000 block, so Eater will keep you posted as the story unfolds.

This morning may have started off absolutely disastrous for the newly-reopened, historic Cafe Sbisa at 1011 Decatur Street. The Times-Pic reports that the New Orleans Fire Department responded to a one-alarm fire around 7:20 a.m. this morning, but it quickly upgraded into a more severe 3-alarm. As of 8 a.m. firefighters were still on the scene. No word yet on the cause, or the extent of damage. WWLTV has a handful of photos and video coverage of the fire.

This is obviously horrible news if true, especially since Cafe Sbisa, which was first established in 1899, hasn't even been reopen a full month. Restaurateur Bob Barton took over ownership this year, and reopened on August 29. Before that Sbisa had mainly stayed shuttered since Katrina, operating for less than a year in 2008 under different ownership. The historical property is a former ship-chandlery dating back to the 1820's.

· NOFD Responds to 3-alarm Fire at Cafe Sbisa on Decatur Stree [NOLA.com]
· Three-Alarm Fire in French Quarter [WWLTV]
· All Fire Coverage [-ENOLA-]
[Photo: WWLTV]