An overnight fire has destroyed a popular Iqaluit restaurant known as the Snack.

Kelly Akpaleapik said he first saw smoke coming from the downtown building around midnight.

Fire crews spent Thursday morning battling a blaze that destroyed the Snack restaurant in Iqaluit.
(CBC News)

"I was at my apartment and I looked out the window and there was a big cloud of smoke," he said.

Firefighters put the fire out but it ignited again about 30 minutes later, Akpaleapik said.

The blaze is thought to have begun as a grease fire but officials have yet to confirm the cause.

Fire crews are still working at the site of the smouldering building, which collapsed on itself.