The decision is difficult, said one restaurateur. Important, said another.
Unpopular might be the best word.
That’s what restaurateurs said after they made the decision to tell their customers, publicly, that at least one of their staffers had tested positive for the new coronavirus.
It’s tough for a small-business owner to decide whether to publicly admit if a worker has been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, says Peter Novotny, co-owner of Deep Ellum bars Armoury D.E. and Ruins. His bars closed temporarily to sanitize — not because someone tested positive, but because his staffers came in contact several times with a regular customer who has since tested positive.
After Gov. Greg Abbott ordered bars to close on June 26, Novotny’s bars are now closed indefinitely.
“I have seen a lot of places that have taken the opposite route and tried to keep it quiet,” Novotny says. “I do understand that as well. It could ruin your reputation. I don’t know what’s worse: to be deceitful or be honest. It’s kind of a lose-lose situation.”
Dallas County has seen an uptick in positive coronavirus cases over the past week, with nearly 50% of the cases in the 18-to-39 age range. That spike has affected restaurant workers and has resulted in a ripple of temporary restaurant closures in Dallas-Fort Worth.
A list accompanying this report details more than 50 restaurants that have reported positive cases. And those are only the ones The Dallas Morning News could confirm. Some restaurant workers wouldn’t talk on the record, for fear of losing their jobs.
“COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas, and it must be corralled,” Abbott said in a news conference Monday.
He urged consumers to wear masks, a measure that is now required in Dallas County. On Friday, he walked back restaurant occupancy to 50% and ordered bars to shut down.
But how restaurants behave if one of their own tests positive for COVID-19 is largely a matter of preference. And ethics.
Restaurants don’t have to close, according to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though they’re urged to notify health officials and anyone they’ve come in contact with. The Texas Restaurant Association wrote a set of guidelines for restaurants that have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, and they offer sanitation recommendations based on CDC suggestions. The association recommends not disclosing the identity of the infected person to protect their privacy.
Restaurants don’t have to tell their customers. But should they?
Moxie’s and Chelsea Corner, both in Uptown Dallas, each posted a letter on their Instagram pages explaining their choice to temporarily close last week. Both reopened as of June 23. Zoli’s in Fort Worth did the same, after owner Jay Jerrier shuttered Zoli’s in Addison and sister restaurant Cane Rosso in Carrollton because of staffers who tested positive for COVID-19. Jerrier and several other restaurateurs declined to comment for this report, saying they are stressed about trying to keep customers and staffers safe.
For Mike Sagrillo, general manager of Chelsea Corner, his team felt like telling customers was the right move.
“Hiding it doesn’t really do anybody any good,” he says. “We wanted to close down and make sure we regrouped for the safety of our staff and then for the safety of our guests. Those are the two most important things.”
Sagrillo’s restaurant and bar has seen two positive cases so far: one staffer who showed symptoms and another who was asymptomatic.
Although it’s rare, some bars like Armoury D.E. and Ruins closed preemptively. Novotny says all staffers are being tested.
“When we hear somebody say they have it, in good conscience we can’t stay open until everybody is tested,” he says. “I don’t want to have any crazy blowback. It’s even worse if you try and hide it.”
Every day for the past two weeks, the number of restaurants in D-FW announcing positive coronavirus cases has grown.
At Nick & Sam’s, a glitzy steakhouse in Uptown, four members of the staff of 125 tested positive for the coronavirus last week. Co-owners Phil Romano and Joseph Palladino had the entire staff tested on June 19. On Friday, they closed the restaurant temporarily.
“I have no qualms of people knowing. I want people to know what we’re doing,” Palladino says. “I just wasn’t going to say, ‘OK, that one person was sick, let me clean the place’ — which I could have done — and sent that one person home. But that’s not enough of an answer. So I said, ‘Let’s test the entire company.‘”
Romano called the coronavirus pandemic the most difficult time he’s experienced as a restaurateur. That’s notable: He’s made millions over several decades, opening restaurants like Eatzi’s and Fuddruckers and championing the Trinity Groves development in West Dallas.
“Never did I imagine this,” Romano says of the pandemic. “It’s terrible.”
Can you safely visit a restaurant after someone tested positive there?
Dr. Erin Carlson, associate clinical professor and director of graduate public health programs at the University of Texas at Arlington’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation, hopes restaurants aren’t stigmatized if they report a positive coronavirus case.
“Restaurant workers developing COVID is not indicative of a lack of measures being taken in the restaurants, necessarily. It’s a reflection of what’s happening in our larger community with regard to increased transmission,” she says. “They’re not at home like the rest of us right now. They are inherently exposed to so many diseases and opportunities for transmission.”
It’s correct that we’re seeing an uptick in cases, she confirms. She considers the current test numbers part of the “first wave” of the virus, not the second.
“We weren’t supposed to reopen until we peaked, then came down in our cases — until we had seen a steady decline for two weeks,” she explained. “We did not do that before reopening.” She explains the first wave like a forest fire: The fire never went out, she says, “so there can’t be a second fire.”
She believes many restaurateurs are being careful. Some, like La Resistencia in Deep Ellum, are even doing temperature checks at the door before patrons can walk in.
So if a restaurant has a staffer with a positive coronavirus case, is it OK to go back to that restaurant?
Yes, Carlson says.
“It shouldn’t shut down a restaurant indefinitely,” she says.
“If we see repeated instances of cases at any given business, obviously that should be a red flag to a customer,” she says. But if the restaurant followed the CDC guidelines in sanitizing the restaurant and sending the infected staff member home, she says she’d patronize that business.
What happens when restaurants don’t fess up?
If restaurateurs choose to keep their COVID-19 cases private, we can’t yet quantify what that means from a public health perspective. But sharing the information publicly could keep people from unknowingly spreading COVID-19, experts say.
“In the interest of preventing further spread of the infection, it would be valuable for the restaurant to say, ‘We’ve had one of our employees test positive,‘” says Dr. Catherine Troisi, infectious disease epidemiologist at the UTHealth School of Public Health. She recommends that the restaurant include the dates the infected person worked at the restaurant and any other pertinent information.
Posting it to social media might be the only way to reach a wide audience, she adds.
Troisi uses a fictional infected person, “Alice,” as an example: “So let’s say Alice tested positive and it goes to the local health department as a case, and contact tracing starts,” she says. “The problem is that Alice probably doesn’t know the names of the people she served.” The restaurant could go through credit card statements. They could try to remember who came in. But making a public statement might be the smartest tactic, Troisi says.
Some restaurateurs share a frustration at all the unknowns: This is a new virus. And they can’t control — or know — where their employees go when they’re not at work.
“Once they leave my place, I don’t know who they’re spending their time with,” Palladino says. “We don’t know where they contracted the virus. But what I can do is continue to protect my employees.”
A list of the restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth with a positive coronavirus test
Editor’s note: This list is as comprehensive as possible. Email sblaskovich@dallasnews.com if you know of a restaurant not on this list. Many of these restaurants have already reopened.
Alamo Club on Lower Greenville: closed June 15, reopened June 19
Al Biernat’s in Addison: closed June 4, reopened June 18
Ascension Coffee in Uptown: closed June 15, reopened on unknown date
Back Forty Smokehouse in North Richland Hills: closed June 23, reopened June 26
The Bearded Lady in Fort Worth: closed June 23, reopened June 30 for to-go only and remains closed because of Gov. Greg Abbott’s shutdown
Big Daddy’s Ship Store in Grapevine: closed June 22, reopened to sell fuel on June 25
The Black Rooster Cafe in Fort Worth: closed June 23, plans to reopen July 11
Bombshells on Stemmons Freeway: closed June 14, reopened June 18
Cafe Gecko in Richardson: closed June 22, reopened June 28
Cane Rosso in Carrollton: closed June 12, reopened June 18
Cane Rosso in Frisco: closed July 1, reopened July 2 for to-go orders and July 13 for dine-in
The Charles in the Design District: closed June 14, reopened June 15
Chelsea Corner in Uptown Dallas: closed June 18, reopened June 23
Chihuahua Charlie’s Cantina in Arlington: closed June 24, reopens July 2
Crossroads Diner in Dallas: closed June 24, reopened July 8
Dodie’s in Rockwall: closed June 25
Eggsellent Cafe in Carrollton: closed June 13, reopened June 21
Feedstore BBQ & More in Southlake: closed June 22, reopened June 24
Fogo de Chão at Legacy West in Plano: exact dates not known
Fred’s Texas Cafe in Fort Worth: closed June 25
Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen + Bar at Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant, Okla.: closed July 10
Harwood Tavern in downtown Dallas: exact dates not known
Haystack Burgers & Barley in Lakewood: closed June 25, plans to reopen June 29
The Heights in Lakewood: closed June 26
Goodfriend Beer Garden & Burger House in East Dallas: closed June 24
Greenville Avenue Pizza Company in Dallas: closed June 25, reopened June 26
Kenny’s Italian Kitchen in Addison: exact dates not known
Lakewood Smokehouse in Lakewood: closed June 19, reopened June 26 for takeout only
La Rueda Restaurant in Fort Worth: closed June 13, reopened June 16
LSA Burger Co. in Denton: closed June 23, reopened June 26
Lucky Lou’s in Denton: closed June 22
The Lunch Box in Fort Worth: closed June 23, reopened June 27
Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant in Justin: closed June 17, reopened June 21
Montlake Cut near Park Cities: closed June 17, reopened June 23
Moxie’s in Uptown Dallas: closed June 19, reopened June 23
Neighborhood Services on Lovers lane in Dallas: closed June 19
Nick & Sam’s in Uptown Dallas: did not close in mid June, then closed June 26
The Nodding Donkey in Uptown Dallas: closed June 19, reopened June 25
Oak Cliff Social Club: closed June 16
Oddfellows in Oak Cliff: changed to walk-up service on June 18, reopened for dine-in June 20
The Old Monk in Dallas: closed June 25
Paradiso in Bishop Arts: exact dates not known
Pie 314 Everyday Eatery in Lewisville: exact dates not known
Royal China in Preston Hollow: closed June 9, reopened June 22 for takeout and delivery
Sandwich Hag in the Cedars: closed June 18, reopens July 2
Seven Mile Cafe in Denton: closed June 19, reopened June 21
Seven Mile Cafe in Keller: closed June 19, reopened June 21
Sidecar Social in Addison: closed June 16, reopened June 25
The Skellig in East Dallas: closed June 20, plans to reopen July 2
Smithy in Dallas: closed June 18, reopened June 22
Spiral Diner & Bakery in Fort Worth: closed June 30, reopened July 7
Thompson’s Bookstore in Fort Worth: closed June 23
Tower Club in downtown Dallas: closing date not known, reopened June 23
Town Hearth in the Dallas Design District: first case was in mid March; second cases in June
Union Bear Brewing Co. in Plano: closed June 30
Urban Rio in Plano: closed June 23, reopened July 1 for takeout
Vantina on Lowest Greenville: exact dates not known, reopened June 19
Yolk in the Dallas Arts District: exact dates not known
Zoli’s in Addison: closed June 14, reopened June 18
Zoli’s in Fort Worth: closed June 22, reopened June 23
Story updated on June 24, June 25, June 26, July 1, July 13 and July 21 with new restaurants and dates listed above.
