Local Italian restaurant closed indefinitely after ‘significant’ kitchen fire

A popular local restaurant is temporarily closing its doors after a July 4 fire.

Il Focolare Pizzeria, located at 2150 Sumter Street, Columbia, had been open since 2019, offering a selection of pizza, salad, beer and wine.

In a social media post, the restaurant said the fire was a freak accident with no reported injuries, and that it’s too early for them to estimate a reopening date.

“We had a pretty significant fire last night,” the post said. “We don’t know how long we’ll be closed. Hopefully not too long.”

In the same post, the restaurant said it would try to support employees through the ownership group’s other local establishments as they navigated the repair process.

“We’re going to do our best to absorb the team over at the other spots for the time being,” the post said. “Everything is an unknown right now.”

Il Focolare is owned by Columbia-based City Grit Hospitality Group and its CEO chef Sarah Simmons, who also operate a catering service, bakery smallSUGAR and restaurant City Grit, both located on Gervais Street.