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These Houston-area restaurants have temporarily closed or switched to ‘to-go’ only due to coronavirus spike

Ana Gonzalez, Digital Content Producer

Tags: Houston, Restaurants, Coronavirus, food, eating, Things to do
In this April 15, 2020, photo, Dan Simons, one of the owners of Founding Farmers, stands outside his restaurant in Potomac, Md. Founding Farmers is closed to in-restaurant dining during the coronavirus outbreak but they are providing delivery, and curbside pick-up to-go, for meals and groceries. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Carolyn Kaster, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

HOUSTON – Some Houston-area restaurants are closing their dining rooms and switching to curbside and delivery options only due to the recent spike in coronavirus cases.

Other restaurants are closing temporarily out of an abundance of caution.

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Due to the recent spike of coronavirus cases, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an Executive Order Friday that scales back restaurant capacity to 50% beginning Monday. However, some restaurants are already taking an extra step for the safety of their employees.

Here are some restaurants that announced temporary closures and reopenings of curbside and delivery only options:

Alice Blue

Address: 250 W. 19th, Houston

Alice Blue posted a message on its Instagram page notifying the switch to curbside pickup after an employee tested positive for COVID-19 on June 11. No reopening date has been set.

Better Luck Tomorrow

Address: 544 Yale, Houston

The Heights restaurant was shuttered temporarily due to an employee testing positive for the coronavirus. The restaurant said via Instagram that it will test all of the employees until they are clear to return.

View this post on Instagram

To BLT’s guests, regulars, fans and neighbors, We knew it was only a matter of time between all nine of our places before one of our 120+ team members would test positive for COVID-19, and that day is today. And we also knew we would immediately do the right thing - BLT is temporarily closed effective immediately. We plan to reopen next week after testing all members of our staff and completing a very rigorous screening process determined by a third-party health provider. Between all of our places, we’ve had frequent staff testing and have yet to have a positive test to this point. We believe this is the result of our extremely diligent safety procedures and thoughtful teams. Our COVID-19 positive staff member had minimal contact with guests and co-workers, so we feel the risk of further spread is quite small. But it is possible, so responding correctly is essential. We also took steps to minimize crossover between our businesses prior to reopening, so in the event we had a COVID-19 member test positive, it likely wouldn’t impact our staff members at our other businesses. Therefore, all of our other places will stay open and adhere to the same strict standards for safety. We want you to know we are one of the bars in Houston that takes this extremely seriously. We know many of you care for our staff members like we do, so we also want you to know this person is in good health currently with no expected complications. We love and appreciate you all for your support and dedication through this difficult time; please know our staff’s commitment to your safety is the most impressive example of hospitality we’ve ever seen in this industry. And that’s not going to change.

A post shared by Better Luck Tomorrow (@bltomorrow) on

Uchi Houston

Address: 904 Westheimer, Houston

Uchi on Westheimer reopened for curbside only Thursday and suspended dine-in due to COVID-19. One employee tested positive two weeks ago.

View this post on Instagram

After a deep cleaning and full sanitization of the restaurant, we are pleased to share we are open for curbside pickup only during this time. We feel confident that the safety and sanitization processes that have been in place since our initial reopen have protected both our staff and guests, and for that reason we are resuming curbside pickup. We will continue to take extreme precautions to protect our team. These precautions include constant hand-washing, maintaining 6 feet between tables, limited capacity seating, wearing of masks and gloves by all staff, daily wellness checks and mandatory health questionnaires, meticulous deep cleanings, hand sanitization stations, and more. For a list of our safety measures please visit our website. Curbside pickup is from Sunday-Thursday 4pm-8:30pm, and Friday and Saturday 4pm-9:30pm. Please visit our website or #linkinbio to view our menu and make your pickup reservation. We look forward to serving you, curbside. #uchihouston

A post shared by Uchi Houston (@uchihouston) on

The Monkey’s Tail

Address: 5802 Fulton St, Houston

Due to an employee testing positive for the coronavirus, The Monkey’s Tail will be closed until further notice. The restaurant and bar is making sure all employees are getting tested and will only resume business when everyone is negative, according to their Instagram post.

View this post on Instagram

It saddens us to share the news that Monkey’s Tail will be closed until further notice.  This morning we learned one of our employees tested positive for Covid-19.  The employee had previously found out a friend had the virus and proactively got tested before returning to work. We have made the decision to close so all of our employees can get tested properly, and our establishment is currently being deep cleaned and disinfected within the CDC/EPA guidelines. The health and safety of our staff and customers remain our top priority. Once employees’ tests come back negative, we will resume business. Stayed tuned for updates on our social media pages. Bear with us as we all do our part to help slow the spread. -The Monkey’s Tail Team

A post shared by Monkey's Tail (@monkeystailhou) on

Kokoro

Address: 409 Travis, Houston

Kokoro, located in downtown, will temporarily close due to employees testing positive for the coronavirus. According to their Instagram post, the restaurant said they have kept contact between employees and customers at a minimum.

View this post on Instagram

To our @kokorohtx community and supporters: We will temporarily close for two weeks as an employee of ours tested positive for COVID-19 today. This individual last worked this past Friday, Saturday, and Monday, and was NOT exposed to any guests as we have continued to keep our counter seating closed to minimize direct contact or exposure. We want to remind our community that @braverychefhall maintains rigorous health and safety protocols as our temperatures are taken daily upon entry. We also routinely sanitize all surfaces and wash our hands while wearing masks throughout the day. Additionally, we have a station dedicated to sanitizing the reception and shipment of deliveries. Our guest delivery and pickup have always been contactless with sanitization checkpoints. During these two weeks, we plan to test our entire staff, continue to monitor their health, and thoroughly sanitize our station. Our staff must test negative in order to return. Thank you Houston for your continued support and patience as we prioritize our amazing team's health and safety. Please message us with any questions, and we will do our best to respond to them with urgency.

A post shared by KOKORO | SUSHI & YAKITORI (@kokorohtx) on

Relish Restaurant and Bar

Address: 2810 Westheimer, Houston

Relish announced they will reopen under a curbside and delivery model on Tuesday after temporarily closing since June 12. All employees have been tested for COVID-19.

Nobies

Address: 2048 Colquitt, Houston

Nobie’s was temporarily closed due to an employee testing positive since June 7.

They reverted back to to-go and curbside ordering Monday out of an abundance of caution.

Pistolero’s

Address: 1517 Westheimer, Houston

Pistolero’s on Westheimer announced via Instagram that it will temporarily shut its doors after two employees tested positive. The restaurant is currently working to deep clean and sanitize the space.

No reopening date has been set.

Prego Restaurant

Address: 2520 Amherst, Houston

Although no employees tested positive for coronavirus, Prego chose to temporarily close its dining rooms “out of caution” according to an Instagram post.

Verdine Houston

Address: 449 W. 19th, Houston

One of the Heights’ vegetarian and vegan restaurants switched back to curbside and to-go this week and operating with limited hours starting Friday, according to its Facebook page.

Copyright 2020 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.

About the Author

A graduate of the University of Houston-Downtown, Ana moved to H-Town from sunny southern California in 2015. In 2020, she joined the KPRC 2 digital team as an intern. Ana is a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur, a catmom of 3, and an aquarium enthusiast. In her spare time, she's an avid video gamer and loves to travel.

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