Off Vine Restaurant 'Heavily Damaged in Aggressive Firefight'

"I was very shocked to be walking down the street and seeing what happend to Off Vine," Robert Gross-Herndon, an LAist Reader, said in an e-mail when sharing the above photo. He says it was one of his favorite Hollywood hideaways and that he will miss it, especially the raspberry pancakes.

Update: More photos and a witness report from inside the restaurant can be found here.

A fire reported at the address of Off Vine Restaurant on Leland Ave. in Hollywood has left the building with heavy fire damage after a 34 minute aggressive firefight, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey. At 5:20 p.m., a cell phone call prompted 86 firefighters to respond to the blaze, which was originally reported to be at a single family home, but later corrected as a home converted-to-restaurant. Despite the high ambient temperature and highly compartmentalized nature of the building, no injuries were sustained. Firefighters had to do a lot of saw work and pulling of ceilings to successfully knockdown the fire.

Humphrey said it appears that the wine collection in the basement may have suffered little damage, but since the the establishment is a restaurant, the LA County Health Department will have the final say when Off Vine can reopen.