Trio Restaurant delays re-opening as repairs continue after fire

A popular restaurant in downtown Palm Springs will have its reopening pushed back. Trio Restaurant was supposed to re-open around Labor Day, but according to owner Tony Marchese will now reopen in mid-September instead.

The restaurant suffered significant smoke and water damage forcing it to close after a fire on August 2. Much of the of the debris has been cleaned up and some electricity has been restored but repairs are taking longer than anticipated.

“Even though it’s just water and smoke, the work has to do with insurance companies and the city of Palm Springs and people’s timing and it’s just you know, if it was up to me, we’d be done in 3 days,” said Marchese.

He said the closure has been hard on him and his 60 employees who are eager to get back to work.

“So far I haven’t lost any staff, so I’m hoping that we don’t lose any staff and if I do, it’s understandable, they have their families, unemployment can only give so much.”

Despite the bump in the road, Marchese has gotten support from the community customers through emails and Facebook messages.

“There must have been 500 to 600 whether it’s emails or Facebook responses, amazing. It put me to tears at some of them. It was really nice,” Marchese said.

Marchese said he plans on having a special event here at the restaurant for his employees right before the restaurant re-opens.

The Palm Springs Fire Department said they believe the fire that occurred is suspicious, the cause of the fire remains under investigation.