Fire devastates popular Los Gatos restaurant

LOS GATOS, Calif. (KGO) -- A devastating fire at a popular restaurant in the South Bay has put dozens of employees out of work.

The fire tore through Double D's Sports Grille in Los Gatos.

The fire investigator says no one knew about the fire for quite some time because it started in the attic. It was hard to see.

By the time crews arrived, it quickly turned into a frantic search to find the source of the flames and put it out.

Double D's is shut down on Monday as investigators try to determine what caused the late night three-alarm fire.

"There's a number of potential ignition sources. It is a restaurant so there are flues up in the attic, they can build up grease, there is electrical up there," fire investigator R. Cronin said.

Employees stood outside the restaurant, embracing each other. They'll be out of work but it's unclear how long it will take to get everything back to normal.

"Devastating, I feel so sorry for Dean and Darren. They're family," employee Danielle Dominguez said.

"There's a lot of people this is their only job, so we're really feeling for those employees," server Alyssa Carwile said.

Employees say Double D's has always been the go-to sports bar in town, especially when there's a Bay Area team playing.

"This place has the craziest, best regulars and customers. It's practically a fan base here," Carwile said.

It's a place that's also been dubbed the local "Cheers" bar where everyone knows your name.

Fire crews say more than the cost to rebuild, the sports memorabilia inside would have been a bigger loss, certainly irreplaceable. The good news is crews were able to salvage a lot of them before they were damaged by smoke and water.