Boil water order forces some Portland restaurants to close - KPTV - FOX 12
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Restaurant managers around the Westside scrambled to find ways to keep their businesses open Saturday amid a boil water order from the city.
Some restaurants, like Deschutes Brewery in Northwest Portland, were forced to close.
"I got called off of work," said Catherine Stallone.
She was hoping to rake in some good tips on what managers said is normally the second busiest night of the year due to the Portland International Brewfest.
But instead of working, Stallone stocked up on bottled water and headed home. Signs were posted on her restaurant's windows letting customers know the reason for the closure was the boil water order.
"It's affecting my money for the night. I'm a waitress so I'm not getting to work," she said.
A few blocks away, the manager at Kells Brew Pub, Garrett McAleese, did everything he could to keep from closing. But without using tap water, he had to make a lot of changes to the way the restaurant normally runs.
"We had to get bottled water. We had to replace all of our ice. We can't use our soda guns anymore so we had to buy all canned soda for the night," said McAleese.
He said he spent about $100 buying dozens of bags of ice, cases of bottled water and boxes of canned soda. He stockpiled enough to stay open for at least a few days if the boil water order remains.
"I've got enough probably for the next three days. Because we figured that if they don't get it fixed we'll have to keep open for business Sunday and Monday too."
However, McAleese didn't have to replace the beer. Since it has already been brewed there's really no risk of contamination, he said.
"Just stick to beer right now and I think you'll be okay," he said. "Have a nice pint of Guinness!"
Outside on the patio one customer was serving up some bottled water to her dog. Experts said the risk is low, but animals can get sick from drinking contaminated tap water too.
Those who weren't buying water were boiling it.
"Well actually I already have some water bottled up ready to go just in case you never know when a situation like this may happen," said Brian Spaulding.
Managers at Deschutes Brewery said they hope to be open for business on Sunday, depending on if the city lifts the boil water order by then.
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