COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – For residents who loved grabbing a “Taste of Jerusalem” for the last 15 years in downtown Colorado Springs, they may have to wait up to a year to go back, as the business begins renovations from fire and smoke damages suffered late last year.
The family-owned restaurant, run by Abdul Nasser on East Bijou Street, says it will have to shudder its doors for the next 6 to even 12 months following the large structure fire that began in their kitchen on December 4, 2023.
“It’s really hard to see that the business you’ve built for the past 15 years to be gone, like within minutes,” Nasser told KRDO13.
The fire impacted multiple businesses within the larger building as a whole, leaving them closed for the foreseeable future as well.
Nasser says the eatery was a home, welcome to all. Allowing him to serve a tight-knit community.
“I don’t see my customers, to be honest with you, as a customer. I see them as a friend, and families, you know, whoever walked into that door, you know, we feel like they’re just a part of us,” explained Nasser.