A fire Friday morning scorched Flavors, a popular restaurant in Rocky Mount.

The fire broke out around 7:30 a.m. and took about 40 minutes to extinguish, firefighters said.

The restaurant’s interior was blackened and burn marks extended to the second floor of the downtown brick building.

WRAL News spoke with Jeraldo Whitehead, the owner, who said he was shocked but thankful no one was inside when this happened.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what to think,” Whitehead said. “This is definitely not the start to my morning I was expecting. I was expecting to come in like a normal day, check on my staff, make sure we had everything for the day, and that’s exactly what I planned to do.”

The popular restaurant serves soul food and is located at 119 N. Washington St.

Whitehead said he has no doubt he will rebuild, but it is too early to say whether it will be in the same location.

“This won’t be the last Flavors in Rocky Mount,” Whitehead said.

Investigations are currently underway to determine the cause of the fire.