Lower Greenville fire is huge blow to Dallas neighborhood

DALLAS — A huge fire leveled an entire block along Lower Greenville Avenue early Tuesday morning.

Now there is an air of sadness in the neighborhood. It didn't just lose a building with four popular establishments; it lost a piece of history and a part of its charm, including:

• The 75-year-old Greenville Bar & Grill, touted as the oldest of its kind in Dallas
• Tirelli's, home of the famous Italchos, Italian-style nachos
• The Hurricane Grill and Mick's Bar are also gone, destroyed in the pre-dawn inferno

“It’s a sick feeling when you drive up and you see two businesses that you put your heart and soul into, and see flames shooting 30 feet into the air," said Gregg Merkow, owner of both the Greenville Bar & Grill and Hurricane Grill.

Dallas firefighters retrieved a box of cash from a safe and two cash registers from Merkow's restaurants.

Employees, customers and friends consoled him, including Mike and Rachel Stewart, who worked as bartenders at Hurricane.

“It means we’re going to have to find another job,” said Rachel Stewart. But her husband was optimistic. “The service industry in Dallas is great. We look out for each other. We've already had people call us and offer us shifts.”

Judy Ouelette, a regular at Tirelli’s said she could cry. Ouelette says the neighborhood won’t be the same without the vintage 1920s building.

“Yesterday we celebrated the general manager's birthday in there, Joey Tirelli," Ouelette said. "It's just a dear place to me."

The building was insured, but the contents inside Merkow's two restaurants were not -- something he now calls a big mistake.

Merkow said the four establishments will still hold their annual St. Patrick's Day party; they'll just have to do it in a tent in the back parking lot.

E-mail sstoler@wfaa.com