August 7, 2019
A fire was reported around 9:50am on Tuesday, August 6, at the Mandarin House restaurant on La Jolla Boulevard. Firefighters quickly arrived to find smoke billowing from the roof of the single-story building, but the team was able to subdue the flames within 10 minutes. Inspectors deemed the cause of the fire was due to a buildup of grease in the kitchen vent. Fortunately, nobody was inside the restaurant at the time.
Mandarin House is owned by Nelson Law, whose family has been operating the eatery since 1977. Law's late father, Tat "John" Law and his partner Wai "Bill" Man worked their way up from dish washers to head chefs in Hong Kong before opening their first restaurant in San Diego. Mandarin House was the first of many restaurants for the two longtime friends and cooks. Law and Man ended up opening two more San Diego locations of their Szechuan-style Mandarin House in San Diego, as well as two more in Mexico City, all which have since closed.
Mandarin House aims to reopen in 4-6 weeks at 6765 La Jolla Boulevard in La Jolla. For more information, visit mandarinhouselj.com.
