WASHINGTON -- Late Sunday night, diners at popular Vietnamese noodle shop Pho 14 in Columbia Heights were rushed out the door mid-meal by the D.C. Fire Department.
Prince of Petworth reported the account of one patron:
The fire alarm was going off when we walked in and we asked the staff if they were still serving or if there was a problem and they acted normal and seated us. We assumed all was fine because the rest of the restaurant was acting normal. We were seated and the alarm continued going off for about 10 minutes. The DCFD arrived and notified the staff that they were closing the kitchen for the rest of the evening, but I didn't hear them specify damage.
We didn't see or smell any smoke. The staff then told us we all needed to leave.
The Huffington Post followed up with the management of Pho 14, which explained that there was no fire, only heavy smoke resulting from a fryer where the oil had heated 200 degrees too high. An inspector was scheduled to come in around mid-day on Monday to assess whether the restaurant was in good shape to reopen.
Pho 14 was ranked as the top pho restaurant in D.C. by Washington City Paper's online Best of D.C. readers for both 2010 and 2011.
Photo by Flickr user angelatchou