VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – For the owners of The Maple Tree Pancake House, they say they are still in shock after a three-alarm fire destroyed their business Tuesday evening on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
“We are still in shock. We cannot believe it. That is the reality that maple tree is not anymore here,” owner Roula Lindroos said. “I feel like the Maple Tree is like a person that some accident happen and passed away. The memory will live.”
Lindroos says part of that memory includes decades of filling bellies. She also said her head cook would often serenade customers for special occasions.
“Our cook that was there for 32 years when he was a teenager and now he’s a grandfather that he has a beautiful voice. And every time somebody had a birthday, he was singing the happy birthday. And all the restaurant was so excited,” Lindros explained.
She says all employees were like family. Now three days after the fire took their business, Lindroos says they are ready to rebuild.
“They are telling us that they figure by next April to have the new building,” Lindroos said. “But the thought that we’ll come back makes me to sustain this loss.”
