Hicksville Italian restaurant gutted by blaze, fire chief says

One of Long Island’s top-rated Italian restaurants, Luigi Q in Hicksville, was gutted by fire Saturday, authorities said.

The Hicksville Fire Department received a call shortly after 12:30 p.m. reporting that the restaurant on South Oyster Bay Road was in flames, Chief Richard Diaz said.

Firefighters arrived to find smoke and flames coming from the roof. The restaurant was closed at the time.

Diaz said firefighters from Hicksville and several other departments, including Bethpage, Syosset, Plainview and Westbury, had trouble getting to the fire, which appeared to originate from just under the roof.

“We opened up the whole roof,” he said.

Firefighters battled the blaze for about two hours, the chief said.

The cause of the blaze remained under investigation late Saturday.

SEE PHOTOSLong Island's best Italian restaurants

A Westbury firefighter was treated for minor injuries, Diaz said. No other injuries were reported.

The owner of the restaurant, Luigi Quarta, declined to comment when reached Saturday afternoon.

Newsday food critic Peter M. Gianotti wrote in 2006 that the restaurant’s cuisine is “defined by freshness, the market, the season, the imagination.”

Last year, Luigi Q made Newsday’s list of the 10 best Italian restaurants on Long Island.