Monrovia restaurant owner, whose home was destroyed in Eaton Fire, hopes for business rebound

MONROVIA, Calif. (KABC) -- Six months ago, Tony Banuelos' house in Altadena was one of the thousands of structures destroyed by the Eaton Fire. Now the longtime owner of a beloved Monrovia restaurant is hoping business will pick up again as he seeks to rebuild his home.

A dirt lot and a faint outline of the home were all that remained as Banuelos recently gave ABC7 a somber tour of his residential property, where he and his family had lived since 1994.

"It was frustrating and really sad," Banuelos said, his voice choked with emotion. "You can't blame anybody. What can the fire department do if the wind is going 80-to-100 miles per hour?"

Banuelos' sister lives a few doors down from where his house stood.

"Her home, right around the corner, just burned as well," said Antonio Banuelos, Tony's son.



Tony Banuelos owns Jake's Roadhouse in nearby Monrovia. When the local community heard about the loss of his home, which was reported in an ABC7 profile of the restaurateur, they came out in droves to support his business.

"We were slammed every single day," Banuelos said.

Monrovia Mayor Tom Adams noted: "When channel 7 came down here and did a special, you couldn't hardly get in here. It made an incredible difference."



Referring to Banuelos, Monrovia resident Steve French said: "He always tells me, 'Hey, the best medicine for me is to stay busy.'"



But business has slowed. Banuelos said it's been tough in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, the January wildfires, the spike in egg prices, and now a new hurdle -- the recent ICE raids in Southern California.

"My business has dropped -- in the last three weeks -- 30 or 40 percent," he said.

Banuelos and his wife have since moved into his son's home in Monrovia. Including the grandchildren, it's a packed house of seven people.

"Every once in just catch myself probably teary-eyed," Miguel Banuelos said.

Asked if he harbored any anger about the catastrophe that left his home burned to the ground, Tony Banuelos said: "Well, I did in the beginning, but after going through it in my mind, when you think about it: How can you blame anybody?"



He said his estimated cost to rebuild is over $1 million, and his insurance only covers $460,000. But the main issue right now is getting building plans approved, which could take months.