How Some Houston Restaurant Owners Are Responding to the Boil Water Notice

Is your Houston restaurant, bar or other food and beverage business closed today, or open with precautions? You can email us. This is a developing story and will be updated through the day. 

A power outage on Sunday, November 29 at approximately 10:30 a.m. has led to a lot of headaches today for Houston restaurant and bar owners. According to Mayor Sylvester Turner during a press conference this morning, two transformers failed, both the main and the backup, causing a power loss at the East Water Purification Plant for about 10 minutes. Several pressure sensors reported the PSI dropped below 20 for at least two minutes. The resulting boil water notice applies to all of Houston, as the East Water Purification Plant provides water to the entire city. 

While the boil water notice is expected to be dropped as soon as Tuesday morning — and, according to Mayor Sylvester Turner, there’s been no indication so far that the water system was compromised — it means that owners of food and drink businesses are having to put in special effort and expense to comply with the notice’s requirements. Tap water cannot be served, ice made from tap water has to be thrown out (even if filtered) and water used for cooking has to be either bottled or allowed to be at a rolling boil for two minutes. 

On a positive note, many Houston restaurants and bars are closed on Monday and won’t be significantly affected by the boil water notice. However, for those that normally are, some owners are opting to simply close for the day. Ziggy Gruber is one of those, writing, “At Kenny & Ziggy’s, we always put the safety of our customers first, so unfortunately, because of the boil water notice, the Deli will be closed today. We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we feel this is the right thing to do.” 

Numerous Houstonians are also reporting on social media that their local Starbucks is closed, so it’s a good idea to call ahead — really, to any coffee shop.

Other owners are making efforts to let diners know that they’re doing what it takes to ensure it’s safe to eat in their restaurants. “Both Harold’s and Low Tide are open today with clean ice and bottled drinks. Boil water protocols are in place,” wrote Harold’s and Low Tide owner Alli Jarrett in an email to her customers. 

A press release from long-running River Oaks restaurant Ouisie’s Table says, “General Manager Adam Dinari brought in staff early this morning and is having water boiled so as to be able to use it for cooking throughout today and tomorrow. They will not be using ice today, at least until they can locate some that can be guaranteed safe (made before the pumping station incident). They have plenty of bottled water already on hand to use for customers requesting water. They will not be serving water unless requested.”

Although Dandelion Cafe is in Bellaire, it’s also having to take precautionary measures. That’s because Bellaire’s water system is connected to the City of Houston’s, so it’s issued a boil water notice, too. An email to Dandelion Cafe’s customers said, “We are taking steps to keep our guests safe and healthy. Our coffee equipment keeps water at boiling temperatures, we are buying fresh ice, and will have bottled water and boiled water for drinking as well. We have sanitizers and boiled water for hand washing. Water for cooking will also be boiled.”

Other restaurants reporting as open and complying with water safety measures include:

• Saint Arnold Beer Garden, 2000 Lyons: “The Beer Garden and Restaurant will be open to the public and will serve beer and food all day long. However, we will not have water, sweet tea, or ice available to the public until further notice. You can bring your own water, but again, we have beer!”
• The Original Ninfa’s, 2704 Navigation and 1700 Post Oak: “We are taking all the necessary and recommended precautions in the preparation of our full menu.”
• Gatlin’s BBQ, 3510 Ella: “Will be open today for to go only from 11-4pm [or until sell-out] with a limited menu.”
• La Lucha and Superica, 1801 West 19th: “Will be open today with the water boil advisory in place. We will be following all regulations and procedures.”

Nearby cities reporting as unaffected by the boil water notice include Pasadena, La Porte and Missouri City. According to the Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management, a small part  of that area is affected. 

The most recent water sample was taken at approximately 9:30 a.m. this morning. During his press conference, Turner said he expects a clean water report by 3 a.m. on Tuesday, November 29 and possibly earlier, depending on how soon the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reads the water testing data. You can view his morning press conference below. 

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