Is it safe to eat buffet dinner after the COVID-19 pandemic?

In the Charlotte area, some buffet restaurants are back to normal while others are still closed.

CHARLOTTE, NC – Eat whatever you want while helping yourself, some buffet restaurants are now bouncing back.

At New York Pizza and Pasta in Indian Trail, business continues as usual as customers have lined up again. “Oh yeah, it usually gets very busy every time we come, it’s always packed,” said NY Pizza and Pasta regular Jaycob Winstead.

The scene was shockingly normal on Thursday. Safety measures in place included hand sanitizer and Plexiglas sneeze guards over food.

“We stopped letting kids come to the buffet on their own,” said NY Pizza and Pasta manager Michael Newcamp. The pizzeria has been open for over 20 years and now it is buzzing.

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“Now that we’ve opened the buffet the buffet is very busy, I think people are up for that,” Newcamp said. In the Charlotte area, some buffet restaurants are back to normal while others are still closed.

“If you’re going to eat at a buffet and see a really long line, I would wait a bit and let the line go out,” said Stephen Graham, Mecklenburg County Environmental Health Officer.

The Food and Drug Administration advises against self-service stations in communities where transmission of COVID-19 is sustained.

Graham says the safety of a buffet depends on the quality of its maintenance.

“I just have to make sure they watch their customers, make sure they come back for a clean plate, that no bodies get their hands in the food, a good employee watches the buffet and changes the utensils from time to time. in time, ”Graham said.

But repeat customers like Jaycob Winstead say COVID-19 is just not a priority.

“I’m not really concerned with that, I think there is a lot more to worry about,” Winstead said.

If you have any concerns about a restaurant, you can visit this website.

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