PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - A man is claiming a local restaurant is not following proper safety guidelines set in place by the CDC and PA Health Department after he was told they were.
Stephen Santa says he has been a frequent customer at II Pizzaiolo for a long time in Mt. Lebanon and on June 9, shortly after Allegheny County moved into the green phase of Pennsylvania mitigation plan to fight COVID-19, he went to dine in.
Santa says he called the restaurant earlier in the day and was told “they were following the CDC guidelines which included the restaurant being at 50% capacity.” Santa then says he sat on the "beautiful" back patio to eat and while there noticed none of the staff was wearing a mask and when he left through the inside of the restaurant, “it was not at 50% capacity and none of the tables were 6 feet apart.”
Santa adds that the restaurant was not busy when he got to the restaurant at 5 p.m.
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Upon returning home, Santa says he called the restaurant to express his concern and was told by a woman who answered the phone, “Oh really? Did you bring a tape measurer and measure the distance between the tables?”
It was at that point that Santa emailed the owner of II Pizzaiolo to express his concern.
In the letter, Santa said while he believes the restaurant has a right to make its own decisions as a private business but was concerned with the lack of transparency.
Santa adds that he purchased food a few times while the restaurant was in the red yellow phases to support the business.
Owner Ron Molinaro responded saying he will refund Santa for his meals and asked that he not “step foot in my restaurant ever again.”
The post has gained over 1,700 comments and 1,600 shares on Facebook.
Santa says he is not asking anyone to boycott the restaurant but that he won’t return there and didn't want his friends and family to go there either.
He also isn’t sure if he regrets posting the story because he didn’t want to go viral but wanted to let his family and friends know his experience and isn’t calling for the shop to be shut down.
Santa adds he has received a lot of positive feedback but has also received emails that contained strong language and threats. Santa told KDKA Radio that regardless of his issues, he says the restaurant has great food.
You can read the exchange below:
The restaurant owner contacted KDKA Radio's Wendy Bell via email, responding to her invitation to tell his side of the story on her show.
In an email to Bell, Molinero wrote, "When I told Stephen Santa that he could go somewhere else if he didn’t like our policy, I thought it was fairly simple.He seems like a nice young man. I am not sure what Stephen Santa’s motivation is. There are much larger problems in this world than a small business in mt lebanon that is struggling to survive during a pandemic."
He continued, "He has also said many things that are untrue. in fact the only thing he said that was true is that we were not wearing masks. He helped create a hysteria that fueled even more mis-information and fabrication.
"I certainly support most of the policies and social distancing that has been done to mitigate COVID-19. I do support the use of masks in certain cases. I do not support the policy that restaurant workers should be forced to wear a mask. Within minutes the masks are wet with vapor, germs and sweat. This is not sanitary in a restaurant environment and creates more problems than it solves. It is a filthy unsanitary mess. Whats worse, as it gets more wet and people move around more, they begin to fuss with it and then they adjust or touch it."
Molinero also stated, "We are currently following all guidelines and conducting ourselves at the highest level. Which is standard operating procedure, always has been."
Masks are required to be worn by all employees, with the exception of those with a medical condition. Customers are asked to wear masks when they enter and leave an indoor restaurant but do not have to wear them while seated.
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