Though flames caused relatively little damage, the tiny shack won't escape the wrecking ball - but only because a new home is being built behind the current location.

Nicholas Vlamis, who manages the 200-square-foot restaurant at 1400 Noble Ave. with his brother, Constantinos, says the move to the modern, 3,000-square-foot structure should take place in two to three weeks.

The new restaurant's interior is nearly finished, and it will open before the venerable shack is demolished. The Tuesday fire, according to Vlamis, was first noticed about 8 p.m. by employees who saw smoke coming from a wall of the small eatery. He said firefighters were on the scene within 10 minutes. `

`The wall just got too hot,'' Vlamis said, adding that the fire was not caused by grease or electrical problems.

A section of the wall, about 3 feet by 4 feet, was torn out by firefighters. Vlamis said there was little damage caused by the blaze, but several hundred pounds of food had to be thrown out as a precaution against possible contamination.

As firefighters brought the blaze under control, Vlamis said he was wondering ``how fast I can fix this before we're back in business.''

The stand was shut down Tuesday night, and remained closed Wednesday as loyal customers had to be turned away.

Vlamis hopes to open today. ``God willing, we'll be open,'' he said Wednesday while readying the stand.

The entire store interior was power-washed, and Vlamis was awaiting inspections from an electrician and the Health Department. While workers still labor on the inside of the new Tomlinson's, Vlamis is just concerned about getting back to business. ``My primary objective is to get this place operational,'' he said.

Vlamis said that in his 20 years of work at Tomlinson's, he has not experienced a fire like this one. ``There's been small equipment fires,'' he said, ``but nothing like this.''