The blaze has left the business destroyed and its owner shaken.
It happened at Joys Fish Steak and Seafood Market on 95th and Halsted just after midnight.
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Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the restaurant and it did not spread to other businesses in the strip mall.
No one was hurt and the restaurant was closed at the time.
The seafood market has been in business for just two months without issue. But just a few days ago, the cell phone store next door was targeted for burglary.
"Somebody tried to drive a U-haul truck through my store. They were unsuccessful -- they didn't get in, but they caused obviously a lot of damage," said Wssem Doleh, owner of ABC 95th. "It's tough to be a business owner right now."
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Because the fire and the effort to put it out caused a significant amount of electrical damage, it's not yet clear whether there is any surveillance footage that captured what happened. Though cameras at the Boost Mobile store located on the other side of the restaurant may have registered some activity just before the alarms went off.
"We see a guy. He's walking when the alarms hit but his camera is not showing visually if he went inside or he did something," said Iyad Hamayel, owner of Joys Fish and Chicken.
Even though he does have insurance, Hamayel said he's not yet sure if he and his co-owner will want to rebuild.
"First, I want to see what's the reason. If somebody doing it, like I'm not going to open. I'm not going to open. I'm not going to take a risk again," he said.
Chicago police initially said the fire was intentionally set, but the Chicago Fire Department said it has not yet determined what caused the blaze.
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