If you’ve gone out to eat in Ballston, Clarendon or Courthouse in the past decade, it’s quite possible that Félix Gomes helped to make your meal at least once.
He’s been a cook in the area for the past 15 years at restaurants like the former Caribbean Breeze and A-Town Bar and Grill, as well as Don Tito and most recently Fire Works Pizza in Courthouse. Co-workers enjoy his humor and charisma.
“He just has a joy to him and a friendliness, and you immediately feel like you’re comfortable talking to him,” Fire Works Pizza general manager Eva Ramirez says. “It’s not common, the way that he got along with us.”
Gomes’ joyful disposition has been missed as he has been hospitalized for three weeks after a liver cancer diagnosis on June 18, his wife Paula Fernandez tells ARLnow.
The cancer is spreading to his lung, she says.
“It has been progressing quickly. That’s why I ask for all of your prayers, to pray a lot for him,” Fernandez wrote.
Fernandez created a GoFundMe campaign last week announcing his diagnosis. The family is asking for monetary donations to help cover medical expenses. The fundraiser has a $15,000 goal and raised just over $1,600 as of Tuesday morning.
Fire Works posted the fundraiser on Instagram with a message encouraging donations.
“Our staff is our family, and when one of us suffers, we all feel the pain,” the restaurant wrote. “Felix works so hard and has dedicated many hours to Fire Works. His contagious smile and sense of humor always brighten up the kitchen.”
Ramirez spoke to Gomes’ limitless positivity, something she misses having around, and something she says is “very necessary” in the restaurant industry. His absence is being deeply felt.
“When you work at places like this, people’s attitudes are huge,” Ramirez says. “We work with a lot of younger girls and they all saw him as somebody to come to, or somebody that they could easily approach, and that’s not easy.”
Gomes continues to receive cancer treatment in the hospital, Fernandez says.
Update on 7/26/24 — Felix Gomes has passed away, his wife says.
