Kaufman House Owner Targets January for Reopening

Three weeks after  in Zelienople, owner Doug Pilarski said the family hopes to reopen the historic restaurant by early next year.

“It’s going to take us awhile,” he said. “We’re getting there.”

On Oct. 5, a fire that started in the kitchen spread from an oven hood into the ceiling of the century-old building. Pilarski, whose father, Ken Pilarski, purchased the building in 1973, said that while most of the fire was contained in the kitchen, there was smoke damage throughout the three-story building.

The cost of damage to the restaurant still is being determined, he said. At the time of the blaze, Rob Reeb estimated damage to the kitchen at $180,000 to $200,000.

Pilarski hopes the restaurant will be ready to reopen by January. In the meantime, the family is working with fire restoration experts to clean out the building. They also are moving through the insurance process, he said.

“There’s a clean-up crew trying to get the smoke smell out of the building and taking stuff away,” he said.

He added that curious residents who were saddened by the Kaufman House’s closing constantly ask about the restaurant’s progress.

“People stop by every day to see what’s going on,” he said.

As for the restaurant's staff, Pilarski said they are scrambling to find other jobs until the Kaufman House reopens.

They’re getting by for right now,” he said. “They’re trying to find something until we can reopen the place.”

This isn’t the first time fire has damaged . The original hotel burned to the ground in the late 1890s. It was rebuilt in 1903.