2 Patriot Place Restaurants Reopen After Coronavirus Closure

FOXBOROUGH, MA – Two restaurants at Patriot Place that were closed temporarily earlier this week due to employees testing positive for the coronavirus have reopened, according to a social media announcement posted to one of the eatery’s Facebook page on Wednesday.

Tavolino and Citizen Crust, which are both owned by Thomas Perruna, are now fully open, the post indicated. Both restaurants had employees test positive last week, which forced the two businesses to close while management worked to sanitize both restaurants and get employees tested.

“The health and safety of our guests and employees has been, and remains our top priority,” the Facebook post from Wednesday reads. “We have and will continue to implement extensive measures to help ensure the health of our guests and employees, including frequent and extensive deep sanitation and cleaning, mandatory personal protective equipment for each employee, limited capacity and limiting contact between employees and guests.”

The post indicated that both restaurants were ready to open their doors to the public and will be open full-time, operating under the same hours as the two restaurants had before they closed.

Health officials indicated last week that two Citizen Crust employees who live together tested positive for the virus. Tavolino management posted on Facebook last weekend that it was closed after an employee tested positive as well.

Perruna told a Boston television station last week that he was frustrated because Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital only test patients who show symptoms. Perruna said the employees from the restaurants who tested positive had not shown symptoms.

Tavolino management wrote in a social media post last weekend that it had been made aware of its employee testing positive and indicated that person had not returned to work since. Management also wrote that any potential employees who may have been exposed to the person that had become infected would be tested, the post said.

The restaurant also said that it had been taking down contact information for customers and said that guests who possibly could have been exposed to the employee had been contacted.

"Tavolino and Citizen Crust have been deep cleaned and sanitized," the post from last weekend reads. "If you notice now that we are closed or are only partially opened, it is because we are staffing each day only with employees who have been cleared to return. Getting people tested, and then getting results back, is taking time."

In a statement issued last week, Patriot Place management said they had been made aware of the confirmed cases and were working with the restaurants to move forward.