A popular Weslaco restaurant is closed until further notice after it was damaged in a fire.

Customers said they’ve been coming to the Sevilla Café at 241 S. Texas Boulevard for as long as they can remember. They said the café has served generations of families, and they hope doors will reopen sooner rather than later.

“You go in there, and it’s like going into grandma's kitchen. I’ve been coming here for many years,” Mercedes resident Antonio Longoria said.

Longoria said he was shocked when he heard the café would be closed after a fire broke out there.

READ MORE: Sevilla Café in downtown Weslaco closed after building catches fire

“You don’t expect that to happen, and you don’t want that to happen to anybody,” Longoria said. 

The Weslaco Fire Department said the building was empty when the fire broke out Monday at around 8:20 p.m.

No injuries were reported.

The department said the fire started outside in the back of the building, and spread inside.

The fire did not make it past the kitchen area, leaving the dining area untouched.

“The building was saved for the most part,” Weslaco fire investigator Celestino Mejia said. “It’s pretty much just them repairing what was damaged by the fire."

Ricardo Tello, who is also a frequent Sevilla Café customer, said he's saddened by what happened.

“I feel sad 'cause the owner is a friend of mine, and it’s sad that this happened to him — that the building burned up last night,” Tello said.

It’s a sentiment shared by Longoria.

“It is a loss, but I know they'll bounce back and the community will support them,” Longoria said.

A report on the fire is expected to be released by Friday, according to Mejia.

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