Want to eat at Beach Bistro? You’ll need a COVID vaccine under restaurant’s new rule
When Beach Bistro reopened in October, seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic, it was only after introducing hepa filtration, and ultraviolet light and ionization treatment of the air.
Plus, the restaurant’s air handling system had been upgraded to provide continuous and rapid replacement of indoor air with fresh air from outdoors.
It was all part of the plan to make Beach Bistro, 6600 Gulf Dr. in Holmes Beach, the safest restaurant in America.
Now that COVID-19 has once again surged in Florida, especially targeting the unvaccinated, the owners are taking another step: requiring customers to be vaccinated.
Asked how the restaurant would verify patron vaccinations, Timmins responded in an email: “We’re going with trusting their word. As you know we’re not able to ask for concrete proof in Florida right now.”
In addition to the bistro’s aggressive program of air purification last summer, the restaurant reports that its staff has been fully vaccinated.
Restaurant employees have been continually tested on-site by Ellenton Urgent Care’s team. In April, the testing team converted to a vaccinating team, and vaccinated the staff of Beach Bistro and its sister restaurant, Doctor’s Office.
“From the beginning of the pandemic, our biggest priority has been to protect our staff and diners by ensuring the safest possible working and dining environment. With this dedication to safety, it was important to us to reach a 100% vaccination rate for our staff when vaccines became available,” Timmins and Murphy said in a statement.
“To complete a realistic safety protocol for staff and guests we now believe the next necessary step is to ask our patrons to refrain from visiting unless they have been fully vaccinated as well,” Murphy and Timmins said. “We believe it is necessary for the health of staff and patrons and that it reinforces the Bistro’s reputation as one of the safest restaurants in America.”
On Thursday, New York restaurateur Danny Meyer, an industry leader who also founded the burger franchise Shake Shack, announced that his restaurant group is requiring all of its employees to be fully vaccinated. (Shake Shack, which has a separate governing board, has not announced whether it will follow suit.)
“I think this is going to make even more people want to dine with us,” Meyer told CNBC. “The vast majority of people who dine out don’t want to see us go back to where things were…. We know that the vaccine works, and it’s time to make sure that this economy continues to move forward.”
Asked whether Florida restaurants will be allowed to make a similar mandate, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ staff pointed to a statement he made in May in which he said he supported a business’ right to impose a vaccine requirement.
“I think businesses can make those decisions,” he said on May 4. “Ultimately, we’re not preventing a business from making those types of decisions.”
Herald staff writer Carlos Frías contributed to this report.
For more information
Beach Bistro can be contacted at contact@beachbistro.com and at 941-778-6444.
This story was originally published July 29, 2021 at 3:28 PM.
