After being ordered to close for violating Pa.’s indoor dining ban, Bellefonte eatery remains defiant
Despite being ordered to close last week, the parking at the Hot Dog House was full Wednesday afternoon, and owner Jeff Grimes has no plans to comply with the latest COVID-19 restrictions.
Grimes wasn’t available to comment due to the lunch rush, but he did confirm the Spring Township business is open and offering indoor dining — defying an order enacted by Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.
Wolf’s administration banned all in-person dining from Dec. 12 through at least Jan. 4 to slow transmission of the coronavirus. Takeout and outdoor dining remain viable options. But a handful of local business owners refuse to comply.
“It’s not about money. It’s about fairness and government overreaching,” Grimes told the CDT last week. “I’m gonna stand up for that every single time. I think it’s unfair when you pick-and-choose who can be open and who can’t.”
After an inspector responded to a community complaint about the Hot Dog House and confirmed the violation on Dec. 17, Grimes was ordered to close. The business “refused to comply with the order, so they were closed by the order,” state Department of Agriculture Press Secretary Shannon Powers said Wednesday.
But the Hot Dog House reopened, and Grimes risks further legal action.
“Just to let everybody know, we are open,” the business wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday. “We will be closing tomorrow through Sunday for Christmas with our family. We will be back open on Monday.”
In announcing the temporary restrictions, Wolf pointed to studies that show indoor dining increases the likeliness of transmission, especially in areas with poor ventilation. Research from Stanford University found that restaurants accounted for a significant amount of new infections, and research from Yale University found that closing restaurants reduced fatality rates.
Across Pennsylvania from Dec. 14-20, the state Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Food Safety performed 493 inspections, 89 of which were complaint-driven. Of those, 84 were COVID-19 specific complaints. The department issued 180 written warnings to restaurants reported to be violating the temporary dine-in prohibition. Forty restaurants were closed after they refused to comply with the order.
Two COVID-19 complaint-driven inspections were conducted in Centre County during that period, and four warnings were issued, according to a state dashboard.
Earlier this month, Wolf’s administration said it would be “stepping up enforcement efforts,” which could include fines up to $300 and “regulatory actions” for repeat offenders.
Though usually operating under an “education-first” mindset, the department of agriculture is working to enforce the statewide order. Businesses will receive a closure order if they are confirmed to be operating in violation of the temporary guidelines and refuse to cease dine-in service while the inspector is present.
“If the restaurant continues to operate in any manner following closure order, the restaurant will be referred to the Department of Health for further legal action, including an action in Commonwealth Court to enjoin the continued operation of the restaurant in violation of the temporary order,” Powers said.
General food safety complaints or concerns about non-compliance for COVID-19 mitigation can be made online.
