Walter’s Restaurant & Bar, a beloved restaurant among the 5C community, was forced to close temporarily after catching fire in the early morning of August 22.
By the time fire personnel arrived, the flames had burned through the roof, causing significant damage. The area connecting the kitchen with the rest of the restaurant was the most affected, while the dining area remained relatively untouched.
“The firemen had to break through the roof, so that whole area was messed up,” Dawoud Ghafarshad, Walter’s general manager, said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Claremont Fire Marshall and insurance investigators. According to Ghafarshad, it likely started near the restaurant’s roof before spreading to several connected buildings.
Despite most of the restaurant being unaffected by the fire, the repairs needed to operate the kitchen are being delayed, which Ghafarshad said is making it harder to reopen.
“All the insurance companies, none of them want to pay or they all want to blame the other buildings, and that’s what’s making the whole process to start rebuilding and fixing the damaged part take so long,” he said. “Until [insurance] gets resolved, that part won’t start to get rebuilt … That could be six months, that could be one year.”
Walter’s was getting ready to host events for 5C students in the upcoming year when the fire caused the restaurant to shut down.
“I was going to do a whole college night where it was just students, where students felt safe, and people could come in with their student IDs every Thursday night and we’d have a D.J. for them and their own private area,” Ghafarshad said.
The restaurant’s closure has not gone unnoticed.
“I was really bummed when I heard that student night was canceled,” Cole Kendrick PO ’25 said. “I was really excited to see everybody coming back from summer and to get to interact with them and meet new people.”
Ghafarshad said that Walter’s has seen widespread support from the City of Claremont and from longtime customers spanning across three generations following the fire. The restaurant has been around since 1957, and is known to be a popular venue for birthday parties, graduation parties and other celebrations.
“I was really sad when I heard about what happened,” Jane Shvartsman PO ’26 said. “I like that it has such a history in the village. It was nice to know that it was an old family establishment.”
This is not the first time Walter’s has seen fire, having burned to the ground 38 years ago. The local restaurant was able to re-establish itself as a hub for the community, just as it is working to do again now.
“We’ll be back soon,” Ghafarshad said. “We still plan on being a safe and fun venue for the students to escape to.”
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