Five engines and three fire truck companies shut down a portion of Lincoln Avenue for 90 minutes in response to a 911 call from a Round Table Pizza employee reporting smoke rising from the nearby Emperor's Garden restaurant on June 8.

Fire fighters arrived three minutes after the 8 a.m. call and extinguished the fire in 23 minutes later. No one was hurt but according Battalion Chief Greg Spence of the San Jose Fire Department, the fire began in the Emperor's Garden's kitchen, causing an estimated $300,000 in property damage.

No other part of the building was damaged and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Tung Lai Fung, the restaurant's co-owner, said she will try to remodel the kitchen and reopen the restaurant as soon as possible. Her customers, she says, are just glad that she and her staff are all right.

"I'm very grateful to the community here," Fung said a couple days after the fire. "People drop by and tell me they we were worried and I'm thankful for their concern."

Fung also laments the not being able to participate in this year's annual Dancin' on the Avenue, which the restaurant has never missed before.

The restaurant was at least able to get a refund on the participation fee for the event, said Norma Ruiz, executive director for the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association.

The association was able to rent the restaurant's booth space to Jersey's Cheesesteaks. "So everything flowed smoothly," Ruiz said.

"The Emperor's Garden has been around for a long time," Spence said. "It's always hard to see landmarks get hit with a fire."

Ray Brewer, a supervisor at the Round Table pizzeria, said he arrived at work that morning, and heard joggers outside talking. When he went outside to investigate, he saw black smoke coming from the roof above the Emperor's Garden. He immediately went into the pizzeria and called 911.

Property owners Ken Wong Tsang and Wai-Chiu Tsang could not be reached for comment.