A Mexican restaurant in Franklin Park is closed for repairs following a kitchen fire last week.
Owners of Franklin Inn Mexican Restaurant said on their Facebook page that repairs are expected to take at least a couple of months, and that they expect to reopen in 2026. “We will miss celebrating the holidays together with you,” the post said. On the restaurant’s website, they said, “Don’t worry. … We will be back!”
The fire at the restaurant on Rochester Road broke out just before 8 p.m. Dec. 17. It forced diners and staff to evacuate, TribLive news partner WTAE reported.
No one was hurt, according to the restaurant.
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal was investigating the cause. A spokesperson could not be reached for comment Sunday.
The Franklin Inn was founded in 1933. Henry “Hank” and Sue Cibula bought the restaurant in 1978 and, after a few years, changed its menu from standard American fare to Mexican, after finding the nights they offered it were their busiest.
The Cibulas sold the restaurant to their son and his wife, John and Wendy Cibula, in 2000 after Hank suffered a stroke and Sue was caring for him.
Hank and Sue Cibula both died in 2022, she in July and he in December that year, each at the age of 81.
The restaurant thanked first responders and fire crews for saving the business. They said they don’t know how to respond to those asking how they can help because they are still in the “assessing phases.”
“Just you reaching out and offering kindness has been the best,” the restaurant said in its post. “Keep our staff in your prayers for the holidays. We were all looking forward to serving you.”
The restaurant was a filming location for the 1999 Kevin Smith movie “Dogma,” which was was largely filmed in and around Pittsburgh from March to June 1998. Franklin Inn, appropriately, was a Mexican restaurant where Alan Rickman’s Metatron, the Voice of God, explains to Linda Fiorentino’s Bethany that she must undertake a mission to stop two angels from entering a church in New Jersey.
