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Corona 2020/Dallas restaurants thread

C-Man

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Zepol87

Zepol87 9338

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On 5/23/2020 at 10:50 PM, Kevin O’Shea said:

Picked up Zaap Laotian Kitchen tonight on Greenville. Solid for quick Asian food. Looks like they’re about to open a second location in Casa Linda. 

Zaap is great used to go to the Irving location all the time 

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bigup2dahorns

bigup2dahorns 3348

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One week after its reopening, one of Dallas’ longest-running restaurants is shuttering temporarily after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.

Royal China on Royal Lane is closed until further notice as management sanitizes the entire restaurant and all employees quarantine for two weeks, owner April Kao said.

“It’s very difficult,” she said. “My husband and I just can’t sleep at night. Should we close? Should we open? Should we close? We just reopened. People are so happy that we reopened for a week, and now we have to close. It’s not easy. Really.”

Kao and her husband reopened Royal China on June 1 at 50% capacity after being shut down since March. It was sooner than they were planning to reopen, she said, but after fielding handfuls of calls from eager patrons, they decided to cautiously open their doors. Daily temperature checks for staff were implemented, and all employees were required to wear face coverings.

A day after the reopening, a part-time employee, who did not have a fever when he was checked at the beginning of the shift, looked unwell and staff grew concerned, Kao said. She said the employee told her multiple times that he was not sick, but she asked him to leave work and get tested.

Kao did not hear from the employee after that and discovered on Saturday that the person tested positive for the virus. All other employees have since been tested and are awaiting results, she said.

“We really appreciate everybody’s support. That’s why we don’t want to take any chances for any customers or any other employees to get sick. We want to have a full, healthy staff to be able to serve the community when we can open again,” she said.

How restaurant owners handle a COVID-19 positive employee is largely up to them. Yolk, a restaurant in downtown Dallas, recently faced scrutiny from several of its employees who say management did not notify staff or take proper measures to prevent further spread when a staff member tested positive.

There is no requirement that restaurants close down, quarantine potentially exposed staff, or notify customers when an employee contracts the virus.

Dr. Philip Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, told The Dallas Morning News that his department gets in touch with people who test positive in Dallas County and works with them and their employers to do contact tracing and identify anyone else who might have contracted the virus. Kao said she has not been contacted by Dallas County Health and Human Services regarding the sick employee.

Kao hopes she will be able to reopen the restaurant in a week or so, which would be in line with the CDC and Texas Health and Human Services guidelines that say employees who had close contact with a person with COVID-19 should stay home for 14 days from the date of possible exposure.

When they do reopen, she said they will err on the side of caution and only open at 50% capacity instead of the 75% capacity that restaurants are permitted to increase to as of June 12.

Kao knew she needed to close the restaurant, but it was an agonizing decision, she said.

Damage sustained by the tornados that ripped through the city last fall closed Royal China from October to December. When it reopened, business bounced back. The future seemed bright.

“This is not an easy year,” Kao said through tears. “The tornados, corona. I mean it’s just crazy."

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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

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1 hour ago, bigup2dahorns said:

One week after its reopening, one of Dallas’ longest-running restaurants is shuttering temporarily after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.

Royal China on Royal Lane is closed until further notice as management sanitizes the entire restaurant and all employees quarantine for two weeks, owner April Kao said.

“It’s very difficult,” she said. “My husband and I just can’t sleep at night. Should we close? Should we open? Should we close? We just reopened. People are so happy that we reopened for a week, and now we have to close. It’s not easy. Really.”

Kao and her husband reopened Royal China on June 1 at 50% capacity after being shut down since March. It was sooner than they were planning to reopen, she said, but after fielding handfuls of calls from eager patrons, they decided to cautiously open their doors. Daily temperature checks for staff were implemented, and all employees were required to wear face coverings.

A day after the reopening, a part-time employee, who did not have a fever when he was checked at the beginning of the shift, looked unwell and staff grew concerned, Kao said. She said the employee told her multiple times that he was not sick, but she asked him to leave work and get tested.

Kao did not hear from the employee after that and discovered on Saturday that the person tested positive for the virus. All other employees have since been tested and are awaiting results, she said.

“We really appreciate everybody’s support. That’s why we don’t want to take any chances for any customers or any other employees to get sick. We want to have a full, healthy staff to be able to serve the community when we can open again,” she said.

How restaurant owners handle a COVID-19 positive employee is largely up to them. Yolk, a restaurant in downtown Dallas, recently faced scrutiny from several of its employees who say management did not notify staff or take proper measures to prevent further spread when a staff member tested positive.

There is no requirement that restaurants close down, quarantine potentially exposed staff, or notify customers when an employee contracts the virus.

Dr. Philip Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, told The Dallas Morning News that his department gets in touch with people who test positive in Dallas County and works with them and their employers to do contact tracing and identify anyone else who might have contracted the virus. Kao said she has not been contacted by Dallas County Health and Human Services regarding the sick employee.

Kao hopes she will be able to reopen the restaurant in a week or so, which would be in line with the CDC and Texas Health and Human Services guidelines that say employees who had close contact with a person with COVID-19 should stay home for 14 days from the date of possible exposure.

When they do reopen, she said they will err on the side of caution and only open at 50% capacity instead of the 75% capacity that restaurants are permitted to increase to as of June 12.

Kao knew she needed to close the restaurant, but it was an agonizing decision, she said.

Damage sustained by the tornados that ripped through the city last fall closed Royal China from October to December. When it reopened, business bounced back. The future seemed bright.

“This is not an easy year,” Kao said through tears. “The tornados, corona. I mean it’s just crazy."

Wow, this hits close to home.  Just last Tuesday, the day that employee was sent home, we ordered Chinese and we just about did Royal China.  I was going to get it for takeout and decided on Asian Mint instead, only because it's closer to the house and I didn't feel like driving to RC, even though it's much better food.

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gyroprotagonist

gyroprotagonist 2597

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Most places will probably just shut down for a 'deep cleaning' whatever the fuck that is, for one day or overnight to keep the employees from freaking out.

we are more of 'take out' family vs dragging the kids to places.  We have missed going to stuff like Top Golf and Studio Movie grill the most as a family.

 

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mdmost

mdmost 43933

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Yeah, this might cause me to just pull back for a while unless it's just a place that still only does curbside . I'm already leery of places that have opened back up to diners. My wife was talking about an article she read that since the cost of tests is on the restaurants and they're already not making money, some are going to opt for either not testing their employees or not telling the public about sick employees. 

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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

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1 hour ago, mdmost said:

Yeah, this might cause me to just pull back for a while unless it's just a place that still only does curbside . I'm already leery of places that have opened back up to diners. My wife was talking about an article she read that since the cost of tests is on the restaurants and they're already not making money, some are going to opt for either not testing their employees or not telling the public about sick employees. 

Yeah, given the current landscape, I’d trust about 1 in 10 restaurants maybe to actually handle things right with regard to testing and positive tests.

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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

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It still won't work.  Just gets covered up by a subscription offer.  There's enough free news on the internet, I ain't paying for that shit.  What's next, I gotta' pay for porn too?  Pass.  They need to sell ads for their revenue like everyone else on the internet.

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DDD Dad

DDD Dad 14643

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It still won't work.  Just gets covered up by a subscription offer.  There's enough free news on the internet, I ain't paying for that shit.  What's next, I gotta' pay for porn too?  Pass.  They need to sell ads for their revenue like everyone else on the internet.

I support them with a subscription because journalism needs help that ad revenue doesn’t fully meet.

I also subscribe to the NYT for the same reason.

Thread drift over.
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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

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15 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:


I support them with a subscription because journalism needs help that ad revenue doesn’t fully meet.

I also subscribe to the NYT for the same reason.

Thread drift over.

It's a lot more complicated than that.  More eyeballs (i.e. no subscription required) means more ad revenue.  However, the two you mentioned have print publications they have to try to support, which is what makes it an impossible model, as print is dying a slow death.  Print just needs to go ahead and be put out of its misery once and for all.  It will happen in due time.  Journalism doesn't need help...print Journalism needs help.  Help it's never going to get.  If you'll notice, subscription based websites (almost) always have a print publication tied to them.  Trust me, I'm in the business and if I required a subscription, I'd be broke.

But anyway, yeah...not to highjack the thread.

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HRSchenker

HRSchenker 2340

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2 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:

I can’t imagine my family and I going inside to a sit down restaurant until 2021. 

I'm the same way. We've been doing a lot of take out and cooking at home but I really don't see us sitting down to eat until next year. It's already a pain in the ass to open the plastic bag, put the container on a plate, and deep scrub our hands. At least I know where our silverware and dishes have been. Royal China having a prep worker test positive scares the fuck out of me. 

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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

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4 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:

I can’t imagine my family and I going inside to a sit down restaurant until 2021. 

I’ll second this.  I’ve been inside about 3 total establishments since mid March.  Keep saying we might try a patio sometime, but it’s honestly too hot for that to even sound appealing.  So, probably just cooking at home with a little (very little) curbside sprinkled in.  I like eating out as much as the next guy but I don’t need it that bad.

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DFWTexEx

DFWTexEx 279

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Yeah, count me in on no indoor dining for a while   This sucks because I miss it and I would kill to eat at the new version of Revolver:  La Resistencia.  Purepecha delivered one my favorite meals of all time, but he couldn't have that room and the taco bar and fill them up only 50% so he combined the whole thing into a fixed price experience.  It sounds really good.   8 people per seating.  I wonder if we booked it with only 8 people I knew and trusted.  The mask is part of the server look and feel of the place so I know they will be covered.

We will do patio dining if we are distant.  We sat one of the tables outside of Nova t the far end of the row.  No one close to us.   That was the first non takeout meal we have had since March.   Server was masked up and it felt fine.  But, as Lando said, with the heat, that may not sound fun any more.  Oh well.  2021 it is.  We will see what restaurants are still around.

Boulevardiere, a favorite of ours for sure, just reopened.   We will get takeout soon or maybe go early and sit on the patio if its not full.   But, for the first time, I noticed a serious price increase.  Maybe that has been the case, but I had not seen it at other places (Taco y Vino's pandemic special was a price drop, for instance)  The Boulevardiere burger, which I have long said is the best restaurant burger in town, is now $23!   It was $18 prepandemic after it was $14 when the restaurant opened.  If that's what it takes for them to make it, so be it.

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gyroprotagonist

gyroprotagonist 2597

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saw that Lakewood BBQ closed down on Sunday because of a positive test.  We were looking to get some Pecan Lodge but their number was busy for hours (i guess we should have pre-ordered) so was going to default to something closer like LW BBQ.  wife said she saw something about them being closed for C19.

ended up getting to go from N&S.  wife went to go pick it up and said there were a ton of people dressed up heading in to dine.

 

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bigup2dahorns

bigup2dahorns 3348

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Bob Sambol, the namesake of Bob’s Steak and Chop House, is closing the Lemmon Avenue restaurant June 28 through July 6. Bob’s usually closes for the July 4 holiday anyhow; Sambol says it’s the slowest week of the year.

But this year, the temporary closure is also a proactive way to sanitize the restaurant and get employees tested. Sambol confirmed Wednesday that no workers at his steakhouse have tested positive for COVID-19, but there is concern.

“We don’t have a case, but we’re going to have one,” Sambol says. “Everybody’s having one.”

Three bars in Deep Ellum ― Armoury D.E., Ruins and Shoals Sound & Service ― have closed temporarily. On Facebook, the owner of Shoals said the brief dining room closure was to “retool, plot, plan and reset” because of the rising cases of COVID-19, and they continue to offer takeout. At Armoury D.E. and Ruins, employees at both businesses are being tested now, and so far none have been infected with COVID-19.

Ruins and Armoury co-owner Peter Novotny calls the conundrum “a lose-lose situation.” Most restaurateurs are feeling the pull: They need to make money. And closing temporarily means even less revenue.

Sambol points to the stress that restaurant workers feel as they continue to interact with strangers, despite city and county suggestions to stay home.

“It seems like a good time to just catch our breath and give everybody a week off,” Sambol says. “It’s just lucky that we haven’t had a case. But the tension is crazy right now, employees are nervous, I think we all need a breather. So, we will go through our sanitization and sterilization process, catch our breath, and go from there.”


https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2020/06/24/dallas-restaurants-like-bobs-steak-temporarily-close-saying-employees-are-nervous-about-coronavirus-spike/

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21477

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45 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Twisted Root must have been overleveraged or something.  We'd go to the one on Yale periodically and it seemed to decline before closing.  Seems like they shuttered a lot of sort of premium locations.

I used  to go there every now and then for my better-than-fast food burger needs..  Good burger, but for some reason when I have wanted a burger the last few years I have gone elsewhere.  Shady’s and Haystack get that business now.

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mdmost

mdmost 43933

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Goodfriend over by me closed down for 2 weeks due to an employee testing positive 5 days ago. This from a place that's been trying to do everything right and taking all the right precautions. 

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DFWTexEx

DFWTexEx 279

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51 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Goodfriend over by me closed down for 2 weeks due to an employee testing positive 5 days ago. This from a place that's been trying to do everything right and taking all the right precautions. 

Same with Sandwich Hag.  Some members of staff there had compromised immunity so she did everything right.  Customers had no contact with employees.  You had to stand back from the window to talk to them, etc.  It was somewhat draconian.  But, the virus still got in and they had to close.   I don't know if there is an answer.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 32071

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1 hour ago, conVINCEd said:

I used  to go there every now and then for my better-than-fast food burger needs..  Good burger, but for some reason when I have wanted a burger the last few years I have gone elsewhere.  Shady’s and Haystack get that business now.

Yeah, same.  And then we started going to Fuddrucker's in Old Town before it closed.  We were surprised at how well it compared with some of the "better burgers."  For us, Hopdoddy in Preston Center is about the only nearby option and the parking and wait make it less desireable.

So, burger consumption reduced.

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TankedBevo

TankedBevo 2500

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2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Yeah, same.  And then we started going to Fuddrucker's in Old Town before it closed.  We were surprised at how well it compared with some of the "better burgers."  For us, Hopdoddy in Preston Center is about the only nearby option and the parking and wait make it less desireable.

So, burger consumption reduced.

I grabbed Burger House on Mockingbird to-go a couple weeks ago for the first time and really liked it. It was like a much better version of a Sonic burger to me. Added an order of chili cheese fries which was massive for how little it cost. 

I can't wait until it's safe to go back to the gym. 

 

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DDD Dad

DDD Dad 14643

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I grabbed Burger House on Mockingbird to-go a couple weeks ago for the first time and really liked it. It was like a much better version of a Sonic burger to me. Added an order of chili cheese fries which was massive for how little it cost. 
I can't wait until it's safe to go back to the gym. 
 

Their herb salt fries are a great change of pace.
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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

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21 hours ago, DFWTexEx said:

Same with Sandwich Hag.  Some members of staff there had compromised immunity so she did everything right.  Customers had no contact with employees.  You had to stand back from the window to talk to them, etc.  It was somewhat draconian.  But, the virus still got in and they had to close.   I don't know if there is an answer.

Yeah, because you can't control what your employees do once they leave.  I'd bet all of these places that are doing everything right at levels like you are describing, aren't getting employees infected at the restaurant.  They're catching it once they leave and do god knows what.

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DDD Dad

DDD Dad 14643

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Longtime (15-year) cashier at Jack's Burger House on Hillcrest died of COVID in late May. So did his son-in-law. If you ever picked up food from there, chances are you knew Nick.

Very sad. Chris Canellos is a friend of some very close friends of mine (I know him to say hi). Burger House family are good people.
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bluto

bluto 4995

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Twisted root went down hill hard over the years, think they expanded a bit too much (guessing franchises?). That short lived west campus location was a total disaster. They took my go to buffalo sauce burger off the menu a while ago too, but damned if their pickles didn’t keep me coming back on occasion

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AustinMT

AustinMT 952

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On 6/28/2020 at 9:57 AM, DDD Dad said:


Very sad. Chris Canellos is a friend of some very close friends of mine (I know him to say hi). Burger House family are good people.

Burger House has always turned out really great burgers and fries.  Sad to hear

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mdmost

mdmost 43933

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If you haven't had Maya's Mediterranean in Casa Linda, I'd like to put in another plug for it. They had some dumb ass run through their front window with his car. They could really use the business right now. Russell, the owner, is a good dude. Their hummus is great. I opt for the chicken shawarma. 

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C-Man

C-Man 27777

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5 hours ago, mdmost said:

If you haven't had Maya's Mediterranean in Casa Linda, I'd like to put in another plug for it. They had some dumb ass run through their front window with his car. They could really use the business right now. Russell, the owner, is a good dude. Their hummus is great. I opt for the chicken shawarma. 

Have heard about Maya's from several people. Maybe I'll run over this week.

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DFWTexEx

DFWTexEx 279

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5 hours ago, DFWTexEx said:

PSA:  Fletcher's Original Corny Dogs pop-up at  Oak Cliff Brewing Co. in Tyler Station (north Oak Cliff, red line station) today 3-8 p.m.  Bring your own wax cup.

 

5 hours ago, DFWTexEx said:

PSA:  Fletcher's Original Corny Dogs pop-up at  Oak Cliff Brewing Co. in Tyler Station (north Oak Cliff, red line station) today 3-8 p.m.  Bring your own wax cup.

If you aren't there yet, it's too late -- at least for now.  I showed up at 3:15 and the line was 200+ and around the building.  As much as I wanted one, I will have to wait.  Not standing out there in this heat.  No social distancing either.

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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

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1 hour ago, DFWTexEx said:

If you aren't there yet, it's too late -- at least for now.  I showed up at 3:15 and the line was 200+ and around the building.  As much as I wanted one, I will have to wait.  Not standing out there in this heat.  No social distancing either.

Jezuz...I can’t think of a single item of food on earth I’d do 200 deep in this heat for.  Let alone a Corn Dog.

And fuck that in the no social distancing thing too.  Rumor is they’re going back into shutdown next week.  Shit like that is why.

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