More Orange County restaurants have closed temporarily to deep clean and sanitize, seven after finding out that one or more employees have been exposed to or infected with COVID-19.
Augustino’s Italian Restaurant in Garden Grove and PokeBowlz in Ladera Ranch both closed because employees had been exposed to the virus. PokeBowlz reopened on Monday, July 6. The two restaurants posted messages on Facebook to customers that each would close for employee testing and sanitizing.
Golden Road in Anaheim, 25 Degrees in Huntington Beach, Adolfo’s in Laguna Beach,The Original Fish Co. and its sister restaurant, Off the Hook, in Los Alamitos, all closed because an employee tested positive for COVID-19, leaving messages on Facebook that the temporary closures were to make sure the restaurants were cleaned and sanitized. Some were testing more staff.
At Stonefire Grill restaurants, the locations in Fountain Valley — mentioned in a previous report — Irvine, Chatsworth and Pasadena have reported COVID-19 cases. A spokesperson for the restaurant group said that in every case, close contacts as defined by the CDC were identified and quarantined, more testing was performed and reports were sent to the local health departments as required. Fountain Valley and Pasadena locations were closed for deep cleaning and sanitizing, in Irvine and Chatsworth cleanings occurred overnight. All Stonefire Grill locations are currently open for takeout and delivery.
After posting a notice on Facebook on Tuesday, June 30, announcing that Bluewater Grill locations in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego and Maricopa (Arizona) counties closed temporarily “for the protection of our guests, vendors and employees,” a spokesperson confirmed that Bluewater Grill in Newport Beach is open and serving customers on its on-the-dock patio, and for takeout. All other Bluewaters in Redondo Beach, Temecula, Carlsbad, Coronado, Avalon and Santa Barbara are also serving customers on outdoor patios and decks and filling takeout orders.
Of restaurants mentioned in an article published on Tuesday, June 30, Cha for Tea at the University Town Center in Irvine reopened on Wednesday, July 1 and Bluegold/LSXO at Pacific City in Huntington Beach reopened on Friday, July 3.
Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside county health departments will list COVID-19 restaurant closures online. The OC Health Care Agency has no plans to do so at this time and will not confirm or deny whether any specific closing is due to the novel coronavirus.