The bar\u2019s resident DJ said its Latin nights were a \u201csafe haven\u201d to the community.<\/p>\n
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A fast-moving fire on Monday on Main Street in Salt Lake City caused catastrophic damage to the businesses of London Belle, Whiskey Street, White Horse and Los Tapatios, Tuesday, August 12, 2025.<\/p>\n
For five years, Dave Sigala \u2014 better known by his fans as \u201cDJ Dirty Dave\u201d<\/a> \u2014 has been hosting his signature Latin nights at the London Belle Supper Club, sending crowds swaying to the songs of Selena or bopping to the latest Bad Bunny.<\/p>\n Five days ago, he unknowingly held his last one.<\/p>\n The place where his speakers stood pumping out his favorite m\u00fasica is now a pile of charred wood beams and singed insulation fallen from the roof. The glass is broken out of all four of the windows where passersby could look in on him and the colorful flashing lights in the club as dancers joined the celebraci\u00f3n cultural.<\/p>\n A fast-moving fire that city officials say started at London Belle<\/a> late Monday and spread to and destroyed three neighboring businesses along Main Street<\/a> \u2014 Whiskey Street, White Horse and the Mexican restaurant Los Tapatios \u2014 left the place where Sigala had created what he saw as a \u201csafe haven\u201d for the Latino community in Salt Lake City in rubble.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it was a home, a place for our Latino community to come out, especially with the things that have been going on today,\u201d Sigala said, referring to increased immigration enforcement<\/a> under President Donald Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n Now, he said, \u201ceveryone is mourning\u201d what the London Belle meant to them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s devastating.\u201d Sigala added. \u201cIt\u2019s sad to see it go down the way it did.\u201d<\/p>\n The bar at 321 S. Main St. was created as a place where history and authenticity and identity were all meant to be embraced \u2014 not hidden.<\/p>\n (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Shown in January 2019, Frank Paulraj, co-owner of the then-newly opened London Belle Supper Club, named after Belle London, a famous Utah madam, at 321 S. Main, as it kicked off business for the night. <\/p>\n Owner Frank Paulraj and business partner David Tran opened the club in 2018, the same year state business records show the company was formed. Paulraj told The Salt Lake Tribune in 2019 that the location and the area \u2014 with buildings dating back to the 1920s \u2014 had somewhat of a \u201cshady past.\u201d<\/a> And he wanted to lean into it.<\/p>\n They named the bar London Belle after one of Utah\u2019s most infamous madams. Dora B. Topham \u2014 known better as Belle London \u2014 ran several brothels in the neighborhood in the early 1900s around Regent Street (the midblock road between Main and State streets). At the time, all were government sanctioned.<\/p>\n Its menu included a $16 Brothel Burger. Inside, velvet couches and leather chairs marked a boudoir theme. The waitresses were also referred to as \u201cbelles.\u201d<\/p>\n (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The interior of the London Belle Supper Club in 2019. <\/p>\n (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Catastrophic fire damage inside the London Belle, as seen Tuesday, August 12, 2025.<\/p>\n The Tribune reached out to both Paulraj and Tran on Tuesday, but messages were not immediately returned.<\/p>\n The bar posted on Instagram<\/a> on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201cLast night we watched as our beautiful London Belle was destroyed,\u201d the post said. \u201cWe want to thank everyone for showing us so much love and support, we\u2019re always in awe of how amazing our SLC community is.\u201d<\/p>\n The post said the company hopes \u201cto see you all for another round in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Dozens of comments followed from heartbroken fans. Many mentioned Sigala\u2019s Latin nights.<\/p>\n \u201cNooooooo! Omg, voy a extra\u00f1ar muchos mis jueves latinoooos,\u201d wrote one woman, which translates to her saying she will miss the Latin events on Thursday nights.<\/p>\n (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Bottle on display at the London Belle Supper Club in 2019.<\/p>\n (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Unbroken bottles of champagne sit on the cement outside the London Belle on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, the day after a fast-moving fire destroyed the business.<\/p>\n Before the fire, the bar <\/b>popped into the news briefly in October 2018 after the death of University of Utah track athlete Lauren McCluskey<\/a>, who met the man who later killed her there. Melvin Shawn Rowland had been working as a bouncer for the bar; he later killed himself before police found him.<\/p>\n But most of the bar\u2019s history, Sigala said, was positive and about celebrating people as they came. He\u2019d been the resident DJ and entertainment director there since 2020, tasked with trying to bring in bands and local artists right when the COVID-19 pandemic started.<\/p>\n