After 13 years spent serving Naperville-area customers — first by food truck and then from a brick-and-mortar location — Fire It Up Taco Fusion Grill is shutting down due to struggles that started with the COVID-19 pandemic, a Facebook announcement said.
The restaurant’s last day is Saturday.
COVID-19 created a lasting impact that the business couldn’t fully bounce back from, according to the post. Four years after the pandemic began and a state mandate shut them down for months, they’re still operating at a loss, the post said.
“Who knew that for 4 years after that day, that we would still be struggling and operating at a loss,” the post said. “Covid relief grants were given, and we made darn sure that our staff were taken care of and that they still had jobs through all this detrimental chaos.
“We’ve tried everything we know to increase traffic and sales. Fresh promotions, continued quality, fair prices, a remodel, and we even added Door Dash (against our will…lol…sorry Door Dash) for yet another option to order. Like everyone else, we’ve been damaged further with rising costs and a poor economy. We’ve been taking from our personal account to keep the business going in hopes that things will turn around with our efforts.”
Owners Rick and Julie VanBuren opted not to discuss the situation further.
A small sign listing Fire It Up’s final hours of operation is posted on the restaurant’s door at 1523 N. Aurora Road. On Saturday, the restaurant will be open from 3 to 8 p.m. or until the food is gone, the sign reads.
Employees this week confirmed restaurant’s pending closure.
The venture dates back to 2011, when the VanBurens launched their dream of owning an eatery by buying a food truck they named “Big Red,” according to stories in the Naperville Sun archives. By 2013, the couple traded in the mobile kitchen for a small, local brick-and- mortar spot, starting first in Wheaton and then opening on Weston Ridge Drive in Naperville. Three years later, it moved from that spot and landed on North Aurora Road.
In a previous interview, Rick VanBuren said the name “Fire It Up” came from their food truck days.
“When we first bought it, I’d say we need to fire it up to see what’s wrong with it,” he said in 2017. “My wife, being the marketing guru she is, said we should call it that.”
In another interview, VanBuren said, “We started as a food truck, but opened this (restaurant) because we want people to come in and have an experience here.”
Fire It Up is located in the same shopping plaza as Signature Fitness Club, Law Weapons & Supply and Rosie’s Home Cookin’.
