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The Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Food Safety announced earlier this month announced it would be performing unannounced inspections in an effort to enforce Gov. Tom Wolf's temporary COVID-19 mitigation order.
Wolf's order mandates the closure indoor dining, gyms and limiting indoor gatherings to a maximum capacity of 10 people, until Jan. 4.
A Crawford County restaurant was initially ordered closed, but after informing state officials that indoor dining was ceased, the establishment was allowed to reopen.
The following establishments were ordered temporarily closed between Dec. 21 and Dec. 27, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture:
- Yak Diner, Apollo, Armstrong County
- Mandy Jo's Country Corral, Everett, Bedford County
- Marteen's Family Restaurant, Everett, Bedford County
- Bella Italia Restaurant, Altoona, Blair County
- The White Horse, Berwick, Columbia County
- Aunt Bees Restaurant, Cochranton, Crawford County (reopened)
- CC's Kitchen, Cochranton, Crawford County
- Denny's Lennies, Halifax, Dauphin County
- Villa Schiano, Elizabethville, Dauphin County
- Thee Seldom Inn, Tionesta, Dauphin County
- Big Dog Craft Brewing, Lancaster, Lancaster County
- Brickerville House, Brickerville, Lancaster County
- C.R. Lapp's Family Restaurant, Quarryville, Lancaster County
- Country Table, Mount Joy, Lancaster County
- Hometown Kitchen, Quarryville, Lancaster County
- Knight & Day Diner, Lititz, Lancaster County
- Mill 72 Bake Shop & Café, Manheim, Lancaster County
- New Holland Coffee Co., New Holland, Lancaster County
- Park City Diner, Lancaster, Lancaster County
- Quarryville Family Restaurant, Quarryville, Lancaster County
- Yogurt Works, Ephrata, Lancaster County
- Miller's Restaurant, Jonestown, Lebanon County
- Royal D Chocolate, Palmyra, Lebanon County
- Commix Hotel, Emmaus, Lebanon County
- Waltz Creamery and Farm House Café, Salladasburg, Lycoming
- Hickory Valley Farm Restaurant, Swiftwater, Monroe County
- Muller's Family Restaurant, East Stroudsburg, Monroe County
- Middleburg Auction Salebarn Restaurant, Middleburg, Snyder County
- Harrington's, Mcdonald, Washington County
- Ye Olde Kopper Kettle, Washington, Washington County
- Paupack Diner, Hawley, Wayne County
- Tin Lizzy's, Youngstown, Westmoreland County
Last week, the DOA ordered 40 restaurants closed after finding they were open for indoor dining.
After finding 22 of them continued indoor dining and refused to close, the DOA petitioned the Commonwealth Court through the Attorney General’s office seeking an injunction against them on Dec. 23.
The petition also seeks compensatory damages for costs of enforcing the temporary order, punitive damages for willful and wanton violation of the order, and other damages the court deems appropriate.
The establishments that the DOA is seeking injunction against are:
- Olde Hickory Grill is a restaurant located at 709 Olde Hickory Road in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
- County Fare Restaurant is located at 498 East Lincoln Avenue in Myerstown, Pennsylvania.
- SNMA Reitz is doing business as “230 Cafe” at 398 Second Street in Highspire
- Juke Box Café is a restaurant located at 535 South Reading Avenue in Boyerstown
- Letterman’s Diner is located at 242 West Main Street in Kutztown
- Mad Dogs Kutztown is a restaurant located at 100 Constitution Boulevard in Kutztown
- Quality Shoppe is a restaurant located at 45 Constitution Boulevard in Kutztown
- Oley Turnpike Dairy Diner is located at 6213 Oley Turnpike Road in Oley
- Frank’s Pizza is a restaurant located at 2550 Perkiomen Avenue in Reading
- Respondent Deluxe Restaurant is located at 2295 Lancaster Avenue in Shillington
- Mad Dogs Hot Dogs Macungie is a restaurant located at 14 North Poplar Street in Macungie
- Thompsontown Corner Deli is located at 217 East Main Street in Thompsontown
- Respondent County Line Café is located at 3806 Perry Highway in Hadley
- Gianna’s Traditional Pizza is located at 1187 Perry Highway in Meadville
- Mike’s Place is a restaurant located at 8301 Clear Ridge Road in Clearville
- The Greenville Junction is a restaurant located at 36 Hadley Road in Greenville
- Sharky’s Café is located in Sharky’s Plaza at 3960 State Route 30 in Latrobe
- Fat Boys Summit Diner is located at 791 North Center Avenue in Somerset
- Dutch Oven is a restaurant located at 110 Liberty Street in Jamestown
- Westy Bar & Grill is located at 279 West State Street in Hamburg
- Hot Dog House is located at 745 Willowbank Street in Bellefonte
- Rt. 220 Diner is located at 4292 Business US 220 in Bedford
Between Dec. 21 and 27, the DOA performed 381 inspections, 54 of which were complaint-driven. Of those, 50 were COVID-19 specific complaints.
The department received 42 food facility COVID-19 related complaints, and 20 of those COVID-19 related complaints were referred to local and county health jurisdictions.
An aggressive response to COVID-19 has proven to be an "essential and effective" measure in slowing the spread of the virus, the DOA said in its petition.
"When individuals choose to ignore those safeguards -- by conducting business with no social distancing in place and holding indoor, in-person dining contrary to those orders -- they put the lives of Pennsylvanians at risk and threaten to reverse the significant progress that has been made to resolve this crisis," the petition says.
"This dangerous conduct must be stopped."
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