Skip to main content

Fire destroys popular Zandra’s Taqueria in downtown Culpeper

This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today. Read the article on Inside Nova. 

The owner of Zandra’s Taqueria in downtown Culpeper reports the restaurant is a total loss following a Saturday morning fire.

Crews were called to the blaze at 302 E. Davis St. by the Depot with reports of a roof collapse and smoke that could be seen for miles. The Culpeper Police Department first issued a traffic alert about the fire at 6:40 a.m. No one was injured.

In a Facebook post, owner Miguel Pires said the fire caused catastrophic damage to the building.

“While the restaurant is a total loss, we are grateful beyond words that no one was injured and that everyone appears to be safe,” he wrote, extending “our deepest thanks” to the Culpeper Fire Department, emergency responders and law enforcement.

“Their professionalism, courage, and tireless efforts helped contain a very difficult situation, and we are incredibly thankful for everything they did,” Pires wrote.

Zandra’s opened in Culpeper in late 2023. Pires established his first Zandra’s Taqueria in 2014 in his hometown of Old Town Manassas.

The success of the first location gave him the ability to open his Haymarket location in 2020, and after visiting downtown Culpeper in 2021, extended his vision to the town.

Pires thanked the Culpeper community for its support for the past two years.

“Since opening our doors, we have been welcomed with open arms, and today the calls, messages and words of encouragement from so many people have meant more than we can express,” Pires said.

He said his focus now is supporting his team and their families.

“We do not yet know what the future holds, and there are many questions that still need to be answered,” Pires wrote. “While today is heartbreaking, we are thankful that everyone is safe. We will take this one step at a time, and we will share updates as they become available.”

Russell Wilson confirms he’s retiring from the NFL to join CBS Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Ten-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson confirmed Wednesday in a video posted to social media that that he's retiring from the NFL to take a job with CBS Sports. Wilson's announcement came two days after news broke that he was finalizing a deal to become an analyst on CBS' Sunday NFL pregame show. “As I enter this next chapter with CBS Sports and ‘The NFL Today,’ I’m so blessed to continue doing what I love most — being around the greatest game in the world,” he said in the video. Wilson played 14 seasons after being taken by Seattle in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft out of N.C. State. He spent his first 10 seasons with the Seahawks, leading them to their first Super Bowl championship in the 2013 season. He was traded to Denver after the 2021 season and spent two rocky years with the Broncos before playing one season in Pittsburgh and another for the New York Giants.
Read Next Story