For three days, a massive water main break in DeKalb County disrupted schools, hospitals, businesses and other services across the county. But none was hit harder by the mandated water boil advisory than restaurants.
By the time the advisory had been lifted late Friday evening, more than 2,200 food service establishments had lost countless dollars and patrons from limited service and even closures at some of the most popular chain restaurants. In addition, DeKalb’s Board of Health had scrambled for days to keep the department’s 23 inspectors out in the field to ensure that restaurants were complying with health codes.
“An email was issued as soon as we were notified that the county was put under a water boil advisory,” said Eric Nickens Jr, a public information officer for the Board of Health. “Staff was pretty much instantaneously making phone calls and sending emails to the restaurant owners in our database. We took it a step further and put the boots on the ground.”
The water boil advisory prompted the closure of area restaurants, even franchise-operated chains, such as the McDonald’s at 2210 North Druid Hills Road, near I-85. “We won’t open until they lift the boil advisory,” said a McDonald’s employee at that location, closed since Wednesday.
Each of the 15 Chick-fil-As in DeKalb operated on a case-by-case basis. Some closed while others opened with a limited menu. The situation also prompted 13 Waffle House units in DeKalb to shift to a “No-water Menu.” By Friday, however, all 29 DeKalb-area Waffle House locations were serving the full menu.
Whether chain or indie-owned, restaurants that opted to remain open despite the boil advisory had to take extra steps to ensure the safety of their customers.
“The challenge for restaurants is that we use so much water,” said Ethan Wurtzel, a co-owner of Twain’s and Comet Pub & Lanes in Decatur.
While it caused inconvenience at home and interrupted operations at restaurants, the boil advisory was nothing short of a catastrophe for some coffee drinkers.
When coffee shops close their doors, the world spins off its axis. People get sleepy. Work doesn’t get done.
“The worst part of #watermainbreak2018? I can’t just go buy a cup of coffee,” one coffee fan tweeted.
It was a burden for Agnes Scott College’s chaplain, the Rev. Kate Colussy-Estes.
“I was really put out this morning when my regular writing place was closed,” she said.
Colussy-Estes needed the inspiration that comes from a sunny table at Dancing Goats coffee in Decatur, but no goats were dancing Thursday morning.
“Dear DeKalb Watershed,” she posted on her Facebook page, “now that the work is done please don’t delay in lifting the boil water advisory. I have a sermon to write and my favorite writing locale is closed!!”
Coffee shops and breakfast places dealt with the advisory in their own ways. At Rise-N-Dine in Emory Village, coffee was off the menu, which made the “rise” part of its prescription tough.
For the most part, Rise-N-Dine’s customers took the absence of their morning jolt in stride. “They’re cool,” executive manager George Basco.
Basco’s coffee-making system is plumbed directly into county water, so he can’t insert his own water source. Instead, he sold a lot more fresh-squeezed orange juice and grapefruit juice.
Banjo Coffee in Avondale was shut down Wednesday and Thursday, but its doors were open again Friday with “imported” water from Fulton County. Banjo cold-brewed coffee by the keg and heated it back up for those who wanted their coffee hot, co-owner Billy Atchison said.
The coffee shop also installed hand-washing stations with bottled water and Fulton water, for employees and for those using the restrooms, Atchison said.
DeKalb inspectors were frequent visitors to the coffee shops. “They made sure we were on the up and up,” said a barista at Spiller Park in Toco Hill, where pour-over coffee is made with water brought to a boil.
And while some Starbucks franchises were closed, some independent outfits, such as Spiller Park, were more crowded Friday, as they absorbed the customers from other shops.
Colussy-Estes retreated to the Ebrik Coffee Room in Decatur, where, she said, “I saw a few refugees from my regular locale.”
