The Thirsty Rooster plans to be back in flight Boxing Day.
Owner Ken Shebib told the Gazette Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 24, that an Alberta Health Services (AHS) inspector had re-visited the restaurant earlier in the day and removed a closure order imposed Dec. 19.
“Given the time of day we will reopen Boxing Day regular hours,” he said in a text message shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday.
The dining room remained open over the weekend in apparent contravention of the order, but Shebib blamed a miscommunication in terms of whether the restaurant could remain open. He said he was told by a ranking AHS official that the facility could remain open in part with the kitchen closed off and catered food brought in.
The AHS facility report for the St. Albert establishment shows seven entries since Dec. 19 and a total of 19 in 2024, plus two others in November and December 2023.
The alleged health and safety violations found include:
- Poor food handling practices and food being left uncovered on the counters and in the coolers
- Meat left at room temperature
- Food safety standards being ignored by staff and food safety logs not being kept
- Equipment and food contact surfaces not being cleaned and sanitized properly
- The dishwasher not adequately cleaning and sanitizing utensils
- An inadequate number of sinks for the type of establishment and level of food preparation
- General inadequate sanitation requiring thorough cleaning
- Construction and maintenance issues involving light fixtures and ceiling tiles
- Hand washing sinks being blocked and not properly stocked
When reached by phone Monday, Dec. 23, Shebib was arranging to have the grout in his tiles cleaned and completing a food safety course online.
“This was a bit of a shock,” Shebib said. “I’m a bit embarrassed to say we had to address some of them.
“It’s very frustrating as we were reported as basically food criminals,” he said. “It’s business-killing. I’m not sure this business will survive. There will be 45 people out of work unless we can overcome this.”
An AHS spokesperson said late Tuesday afternoon they would try to confirm the order was lifted, but that a response given the time of day and the holiday was unlikely.
“Normally, an order isn’t lifted until it’s posted online,” they said.
More to come.
