As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations rise in Dallas County and throughout the state, restaurant owners are grappling with how to run their newly reopened dining rooms as the virus spreads among restaurant workers.
Zoli’s NY Pizza in Addison, Cane Rosso in Carrollton, Bombshells along Stemmons Freeway and Al Biernat’s on Spring Valley Road are a few of the latest restaurants to temporarily shutter over safety concerns and sick employees.
“Unfortunately, one of our own [employees] has tested positive, as of today, Sunday, June 14th,” Zoli’s restaurant management said in a Facebook post shared Sunday. “We are hopeful that our strong cleaning, required masks, and no-contact procedures that were implemented at the beginning of the pandemic have contained the spread, but we will be closing this restaurant effective immediately, while we assess the situation.”
Zoli’s owner, Jay Jerrier, who also owns Cane Rosso restaurants, could not be reached for comment.
“I wouldn’t be mad at all if the updated Mayan calendar was right and the world was ending next week. We are closing another restaurant OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION and to get everyone tested,” Jerrier said in his own Facebook post. “We have been doing everything we can with respect to sanitation, health screenings, social distancing, etc. You just can’t take the human variable out of it.”
Employees at Zoli’s have their temperatures taken before every shift, and no other workers have exhibited any symptoms, the restaurant’s Facebook post said. The restaurant will be sanitized by a professional crew, all employees will be provided with COVID-19 testing, and a reopening date will be announced when every employee has a “clean bill of health.”
An employee at Cane Rosso in Carrollton tested positive on June 12, a Facebook post said, and the restaurant has been closed since then for a thorough cleaning. “Once everyone has a clean bill of health and the store is clean, we will announce our re-opening date,” the post said.
The Cow Tipping Creamery will also be closed: “While this employee did not have any interaction or access to the Chill House/Cow Tipping Creamery space next door, we will be closing that space tonight, as well, to perform a thorough cleaning.” The two spots are part of the “Carrollton Corner o’ Fun” that debuted in late May.
How a restaurant responds to a positive case among staff is largely up to the establishment. The CDC and Texas Health and Human Services outline best practices and recommendations for restaurants, but there are no requirements for restaurants to close down, quarantine staff, or notify employees and customers when a worker tests positive.
In Dallas, the handling of sick restaurant workers has been varied and inconsistent. Some restaurants like Zoli’s and Royal China choose to completely shut down until all employees test negative and quarantine for two weeks from the time of possible exposure. Other restaurants, like Yolk in downtown Dallas and Bombshells, maintain their normal operations after sanitizing the restaurant.
The Stemmons Freeway location of Bombshells posted on Facebook on Sunday that it is closing for four days after more than one employee tested positive for the virus.
“Due to some staff members having contracted COVID-19, we will be shutting down Bombshells Dallas for a few days. This is being done as a precaution and for the protection of our guests and staff,” the post said.
It is unclear how many employees at the restaurant location are infected. Management could not be reached for comment.
Bombshells will be closed from June 14 to June 17 for a “CDC approved sanitizing,” according to the post.
Since Bombshells’ dining room reopened, staff are required to fill out a symptom questionnaire, have their temperatures taken before each shift, and wear gloves and masks. “Unfortunately this procedure does not catch everything,” the Facebook post said.
In downtown Dallas, Green Door Public House and Harwood Tavern Sports Bar, which are under the same ownership, also closed Sunday for restaurant cleanings.
“Our staff works diligently to keep our restaurant clean and sanitary for our employees and our guests. In keeping with that spirit and for added safety precautions, we will be closed today for a thorough cleaning so that you can enjoy your favorite food and drinks confidently,” said a Facebook post from Harwood Tavern.
An employee at Green Door Public House told The Dallas Morning News Monday that the restaurant was sanitized over the weekend as a precautionary measure since an employee at their sister restaurant, Harwood Tavern Sports Bar, tested positive for COVID-19. No staff members at Green Door have tested positive, the employee said.
Management and staff at Harwood Tavern could not be reached for comment.
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The North Dallas location of Al Biernat’s closed last week and won’t reopen until June 18 after an employee tested positive.
Owner Al Biernat said the employee became sick and tested positive while off work for three days after his most recent shift, but Biernat shut the restaurant down in case the worker was possibly contagious before he started having symptoms.
“I erred on being overly cautious rather than reckless,” Biernat said. “I’ve been doing this for 47 years, and I don’t want it to come back to haunt me that I was reckless and I did the wrong thing. I just figured at this point it was better to shut down and do all the things I had to do and give everybody that 14-day period, because I don’t know if the employee could have possibly been contagious.”
No other employees have tested positive, he said.
Along with closing the restaurant for 14 days since the employee last worked June 3, Biernat decided to install air purification technology in the restaurant. He said he plans to install the $50,000 ActivePure system in the Al Biernat’s in Oak Lawn as well.
“The system is not cheap,” he said. “I’m putting systems in that you don’t have to put in, but I want to put in because I don’t think this thing is going away in a couple of months … You have to be extremely, extremely cautious.”
Biernat said he hopes that by installing the air purification systems, taking temperatures any time an employee enters the restaurant, having employees wear face masks at all times, and following strict sanitation measures he can prevent having to close down one of his restaurants again.
“Shutting down is very, very costly,” he said. “I’m hearing 30 to 35% of restaurants won’t reopen. I don’t know if that’s true, but I can understand why … For a lot of restaurants I think it’s just easier to shut down, but I’m not going to. I’m going to fight this thing and do whatever I can to keep everybody as safe as possible and invest in technology and do what I have to do so I can stay open.”
