A beloved McKinney restaurant known for serving true Texas BBQ is now cleaning up after a fire broke out on New Year’s Eve.
The general manager tells NBC 5 they spent Friday re-routing orders to their Frisco location.
Hutchins BBQ draws people from far and wide - but on New Year’s Day, customers were shocked to learn about the fire overnight.
The Fyne family drove up and learned the news.
“We’ve got two kids who don’t live in Texas anymore but wanted to go to Hutchins on their trip here,” said customer Camilla Fyne.
The fire started just before 10 p.m on New Year's Eve, but luckily, the restaurant was closed.
One employee inside was able to get out and call the general manager.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“I was actually at home and got a phone call from a guy who works my pits overnight. He was seeing more smoke than usual,” said Hutchins BBQ General Manager Wayne White.
White rushed over and saw the fire in the attic, above one of the pits.
“It pretty much burned from the pit room to up above the kitchen,” said White.
White said this is actually the restaurant’s second fire - after a fire in 2013 shut them down for six months.
Despite the setback, there are plans to support staff while they wait to re-open.
“All of our employees are going to be fully paid up until we reopen, and we will just come back bigger and stronger, the same thing as the last fire. We will come back bigger and stronger,” said White.
He tells NBC 5 he’s hoping the restaurant will be able to re-open in a month or two.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
