BOSTON (WHDH) - Chicken & Rice Guys, a Boston eatery, opened their doors once again on Saturday. Who was their first customer? The Commissioner of Inspectional Service.
“We want to let everyone know in the city that we think it’s fine to eat here, the best way to do that is for someone like me to come out and eat here,” said Commissioner William Christopher Jr., of the Boston Dept. of Inspectional Services.
Chicken & Rice Guys had to close 12 days ago due to an E. coli outbreak. Thirteen customers became ill, several of them had to go to the hospital.
All four restaurants and five food trucks were shut down.
“This was a very serious thing, and that’s why we took it very seriously,” said Steven Collicelli, of Chicken & Rice Guys.
The restaurant hired a cleaning service, threw away thousands of pounds of food, tested all of their employees and sanitized the kitchens. These steps allowed them to reopen Saturday.
The commissioner said they still haven’t pinpointed where the E. coli came from; it could have been one of the suppliers.
Chicken & Rice Guys passed all of their inspections this week.
“We’ve gone through all the regulatory process, we’ve made sure things are where they’re supposed to be, and we want these businesses to thrive,” said Christopher.
Some customers told 7News they couldn’t wait to go back to the restaurant.
The Chicken & Rice Guys said their four restaurant locations have opened, but the food trucks are not running quite yet.
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