A fire swept through Jamie’s Grille & Pub in North Scituate early Sunday morning, destroying the beloved 50-year-old restaurant, according to fire officials.
Later in the day, people gathered in front of the charred remains of the pubon Gannett Road as if they were attending a wake, said Melissa Peralta, owner of Suddenly Simple Events in Scituate, who started a GoFundMe campaign to help the restaurant’s staff. She remembered Jamie’s as a local haunt that was filled with regulars every day. “I used to work there,’’ she said. “It’s one of those places that everyone worked at, at one point or another.’’
The cause of the fire was unknown Sunday, but it was not suspicious, according to Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the state Department of Fire Services. “The fire is and will most likely remain undetermined,’’ Mieth wrote in an e-mail about the cause. “There is nothing suspicious about this fire but there are several possible accidental causes that cannot be ruled out.’’ The restaurant’s fire alarm went off at 4:22 a.m, said Mieth, and the blaze resulted in the building’s total loss.
The fire is being investigated by the State Fire Marshal’s Office as well as the Scituate Fire Department. Cohasset and Marshfield fire departments assisted Scituate Fire Department, according to Fire Captain Brian McGowan.
Jamie’s Grille & Pub was celebrating its golden anniversary this year, and it was the 10th anniversary of the death of its namesake. James Constantine owned the pub, which used to be called the Gannett Grill, for more than 40 years, according to his obituary.
The business’s owners could not be reached Sunday. The restaurant opened in 1967 and has two other locations, in Whitman and Braintree, according to its website. The pub, known for its well attended karaoke nights, kept photos of customers in the kitchen.
Stories about Jamie’s Pub go back decades.
During the blizzard of 1978, the owners built an igloo, filled it with food, and continued to feed customers, Peralta said she had been told.
Jamie’s Grille & Pub was known as the place where everyone in town ate a meal or sat and drank iced tea, whether they were 10 or 100, whether they liked sports or not, she said. “I really do hope they rebuild,’’ Peralta said. “It won’t be the same in a different location. It was a weird, unique old building. The culture will be the same, but that space was just special.’’
Cristela Guerra can be reached at cristela.guerra@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristelaGuerra.
