Grand Prairie restaurant stays open despite water supply issues

Marco’s Pizza appeared to be the only restaurant open on the south side of Grand Prairie while dozens sat closed on Sept. 4.

The location at 815 Mayfield Road is situated near the boundaries featured within a map issued by the city where there was a risk the water supply was contaminated by a foaming agent.

The Marco’s team brought in water and dough from other locations of the fast-growing pizza franchise. It was crucial so that they could perform the most basic tasks, such as washing hands and vegetables.

”I’m located in Bedford, so I picked up a lot of product from there and shipped it down here this morning. I also have another one in Arlington, same ordeal. We have another one in Cedar Hill, that’s down the road, and we shipped product here as well,” said Derek Buie, district manager of Marco’s Pizza.

“It’s one big team effort to get the store up and running.”

At all times, employees wash their hands, wear gloves and try to keep dirty dishes at bay, Buie said. Due to the lack of uncontaminated water, the restaurant will hold off on washing and using dirty dishes until they have clean water again.

This is not the first time Marco’s Pizza has utilized this procedure.

During the last storm season, said Buie, some stores had to support others with water and supplies to keep them running.

Buie said he called the city’s Water Utilities Department when he heard the news about the water and received a green light to operate.

“I called earlier this morning, about 8:15 (a.m) when I kind of noticed it on the news. I just called the water department of the city of Grand Prairie and spoke with someone,” he said.

The city asked if Buie had water from outside and when he said the restaurant did, the restaurant received an OK.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the restaurant had not received a visit from any city officials to find out how they have been operating, especially when all the other restaurants in the area are closed.

”We were expecting someone (from the city), but we haven’t had that visit yet. But if they come, we are prepared,” said Buie.

“Everybody has gloves on for the make line because technically we can’t wash our hands, so we tackle it in the back with our (hand-washing) station set up, we brought water from outside and sanitizer buckets. So we just kind of made it work.”

To wash their hands, the team brought big beverage coolers with warm water from other cities to the store, so employees can wash their hands regularly as they do on a daily basis.

“Our team in Grand Prairie has done a great job staying open for the community. To clarify on how we are handling the water issue, our team has worked hard to set up hand-washing stations per the health department regulations, just like we would if we were doing any off-site sales to make sure we are in full compliance with the health department regulations and to protect our customers and our employees,” said Zach McLaughlin, director of operations of Marco’s Pizza.