Cheeseburger In Paradise owners, with deep ties to OC, vow to rebuild in Lahaina

“It was like a bomb wiped it off the face of the Earth.”

Laren Gartner and Edna Bayliff were in a fog of limited information Thursday after their iconic restaurant Cheeseburger in Paradise burned to its foundation in the historic village of Lahaina.

Two days earlier, the business partners with deep roots in Orange County opted to close their waterfront restaurant in western Maui when the power went out and stayed out.

SEE MORE: Deadly Maui wildfires: Here are some ways to help or donate

With winds from Hurricane Dora whipping to a frenzy, they told employees to clean up and go home.

“No one had a clue this particular event was coming,” Gartner said from her home in Lake Tahoe.

Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze making it the deadliest in the U.S. in recent years. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A devastating wildfire soon swept through the quaint town, burning most of it to the ground. Cheeseburger In Paradise, which sits over the water on Front Street, and another restaurant owned by the pair, Waikiki Brewing Co., now are mostly gone.

SEE MORE: Maui death toll increases to 89 as survivors of deadly wildfires return to ruins 

The death toll was 89 people on Monday, Aug. 14, and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said he expected that number to grow. Aerial video and pictures show entire blocks of buildings reduced to ash. President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration for Hawaii, clearing the way for federal aid to help the state recover from several wildfires.

Gartner, Bayliff and their management team were working to re-establish communication with its employees on the island. As of Thursday, there was no cell service and no electricity.

“There’s nothing there,” Gartner said. Many employees lost their homes in the fire. Some were sleeping in their cars.

Gartner and Bayliff opened Cheeseburger In Paradise in 1989 in Maui’s western town of Lahaina, which dates to the 1700s and features a sprawling banyan tree planted in 1873.

A banyan tree stands along Lahaina town’s historic Front Street in February 2018, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The 150-year-old tree was scorched by a devastating wildfire that started Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, and tore through the heart of the Hawaiian island of Maui in darkness. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott)

The 34-year-old restaurant was a favorite stop by many Southern Californians visiting the island.

Orange resident Shelley Galasso and her family’s party of 14 arrived on Maui last Friday, and ironically, were stuck on the plane when a brush fire broke out by the tarmac. Hungry after the delay, their first stop was Cheeseburger In Paradise.

The family, she said, travels to Maui every three or four years and typically makes a stop at the restaurant where waves lap at the building from below.

Shelley Galasso of Orange took this photo of the wildfire racing toward the historic village of Lahaina in Maui on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. She and a family party of 14 were staying at the nearby Hyatt Regency and had evacuated Thursday morning. (Photo courtesy of Shelley Galasso)

By Tuesday, much of the area was without power.

“The winds were insane,” Galasso said Thursday from the island of Kauai where they evacuated from Maui. “I’ve never experienced wind that strong.”

The family was in a news and social media void for two days without internet and power. Instead, they listened to sirens and helicopters dropping water on the town just a few miles south of the Hyatt Regency.

They also watched as hotel employees attempted to feed all the guests and employee family members who had lost their homes to the fire. By Wednesday, the hotel ran out of food.

Shelley Galasso of Orange took a celebratory photo of her piña colada at Cheeseburger In Paradise after arriving on Maui the evening of Friday, Aug. 4. By Tuesday, the 34-year-old waterfront restaurant known fondly to Southern California tourists would be reduced to ash after a wildfire raced through the historic village of Lahaina. (Photo courtesy of Shelley Galasso)

The family made its way to the north end of the island. Feeling a bit scattered after the scramble to evacuate, Galasso said the devastation at Lahaina “hasn’t sunk in yet.”

On the mainland, thousands of Lahaina and Cheeseburger In Paradise fans left comments, pictures and memories on myriad social media posts.

The shock and anguish was clear.

Photos: Maui wildfire reduces most of historic town to ash 

“So sad to see our favorite vacation spot destroyed by the terrible fires that raged over the last couple of days in Maui,” wrote Joe Trabert of Corona in a Facebook post on Wednesday. “Lahaina has been completely destroyed, a town that has much history and such good memories for our family. We loved eating at Captain Jack’s and Cheeseburger in Paradise every time we have been there. Countless hours strolling Front Street and creating and reliving memories. May the families that are affected know that there are people praying for you.”

“I don’t think there are any words right now. Thank you for all the memories over the years. Our family loved your restaurant. Just devastating,” wrote Nick Stagnaro.

In a post on Facebook, the management team and owners proclaimed they would be back “before you know it.”

But Gartner admitted it wouldn’t be soon or fast. Rebuilding on an island — in a historic district with limited resources — was going to be tough, she said.

“They cannot move fast enough,” she said.

A GoFundMe has been established to help the restaurants’ employees. The fund, wrote organizer Leah Gartner, Laren Gartner’s daughter, is “solely dedicated to covering the salaries and medical insurance for one year for our staff members who have lost their homes and their incomes as a result of the devastating fires in Lahaina.”

This photo provided by the owners of Cheeseburger In Paradise shows the devastation of the restaurant after a wildfire swept along Front Street in Lahaina, the historic village in west Maui. (Photo courtesy of Cheeseburger In Paradise)