Chunson Savage lost her Reilly Road Greek-Korean restaurant early Wednesday morning to a fire.
But the Korean native, who has owned and operated Gyro Kings and Bulgogi at the location for six years, will be back. She and her daughter, Sarena, are the only employees of the business that serves the public near the Reilly Road Fort Bragg gate.
“We rebuild and a new start. It’s sad, but I think the personal thing is we are not hurt. Thanks to God,” the 66-year-old Chunson Savage said from the front of Gyro Kings on Wednesday morning. “We not here – can’t come back; but we here – we come back.”
Her restaurant shared tenant space with the ACC SportsCuts Barbershop in the roughly 1,300-square-foot brick building owned by Fayetteville restaurateur Tommy Frangakis.
No injuries were reported.
Damage was estimated at $95,000, the Fayetteville Fire Department said in a news release.
Fayetteville Fire Department Fire Marshal T.J. McLamb said the department has not determined a cause.
With assistance from the Fort Bragg Fire Department, units from the Fayetteville Fire Department were dispatched to a 1:05 a.m. report of a building fire at 702 N. Reilly Road, the Fire Department said.
The first units to arrive found a commercial building with fire showing from the roof, the release said.
Someone spray-painted profanity over a Gyro Kings logo on a front store window.
"I'm sure they're exploring all that as part of the investigation," McLamb said.
Savage and John Frangakis, who is Tommy Frangakis’ son, said they had not seen that on the window before the fire.
“We always nice to customers. Nobody get mad,” Savage said when asked if anyone had a reason to be upset at her or her daughter. “Here in Fayetteville, everybody love my food. The soldiers. Everybody knows here.”
John Frangakis said he received a phone call Wednesday morning and was told the building was on fire. “What you see is the only thing we know at this point,” he said late in the morning. “A burned building and ongoing investigation.”
The trademark red, white and blue stripes of barbershop poles remained etched into a front window of the ACC SportsCuts business.
The Bulgogi portion of the Gyro Kings and Bulgogi sign hung from the roof at the front of the business. The roof appeared to be destroyed, and fire had gutted the inside of the structure.
Crumpled strips of metal lay on the cracked black asphalt in front of the place.
Frangakis said his father, a Greek immigrant who established Zorba’s Gyro in Fayetteville in 1974, built the building more than 25 years ago.
“He was just glad that nobody was hurt,” his son said. “Everything else can be put back the same.”
Tyme Watlington, 38, of Fayetteville, called Gyro Kings “probably the best family restaurant in Fayetteville.” She said she enjoyed the atmosphere as well as the food.
“It’s like going to your grandmother and grandfather’s house to eat,” said Watlington, who stood around with a few other people by Reilly Road watching authorities at work on site.
"It’s heartbreaking to see someone come out here and do that when they’ve worked so hard for it," she said of the owners.
Watlington and her group were discussing the possibility of setting up a GoFundMe page as a fundraiser for the business owners.
“It’s heartbreaking,” she repeated as it began to rain.
Michael Futch covers Fayetteville and education for CityView TODAY. He can be reached at mfutch@cityviewnc.com. Have a news tip? Email news@CityViewTODAY.com.
