Mark Lawrence, who owned the business with wife Mel, said a spark in a fan in one of the ceiling’s fresh air ventilation systems caused the fire.
“It overheated during the early hours in the morning, which caused a fire to spread through the ceiling and damage the lighting and electrical work,” he said.
“We were really stoked by how fast the fire brigade got here because it could have been a hell of a lot worse,” Lawrence said.
He said firefighters arrived in five minutes and smashed the side door for entry because they could see fire and smoke.
Lawrence estimated the business would reopen in three weeks.
Community support was “overwhelming” as he received about 50 requests for help after posting on social media.
“I had to stop reading when I started to get a little tear in my eye from reading beautiful comments from customers that we’ve been serving for the last seven years.”
Good Local regular Rosie McGovern told the Bay of Plenty Times: “I was sad to hear the news as it’s a very welcoming and friendly restaurant with delicious food.”
She said the owners were “hardworking, awesome people and it sucks to see them take a blow like this”.
“They will have a loyal, supportive crowd to welcome them back when they reopen.”
Harriet Laughton is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty.