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Arlington’s Meridian Pint Pauses Takeout After an Employee Contracts COVID-19

The longtime favorite for craft beer lovers will close for at least two weeks

A mural on the wall at Meridian Pint’s new restaurant in Dominion Hills.
A mural on the wall at Meridian Pint’s new restaurant in Dominion Hills.
Meridian Pint [official]
Tierney Plumb is the editor of Eater DC, covering all things food and drink around the nation's capital.

Longstanding craft beer bar Meridian Pint shut down its takeout operation this week after learning an employees has contracted COVID-19.

The former Columbia Heights standby, which relocated to the Dominion Hills neighborhood of Arlington last May, shared the news Monday night with a social media post from owner John Andrade. The unnamed employee was hospitalized and tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday, April 19. According to Andrade’s post, they had not worked in the restaurant for nine days.

“We have been in close communication with all employees who had any contact with him in the days leading up to his last shift,” the post reads. “Currently, no other employee has shown any signs or symptoms of the virus and we’re confident that it is an isolated incident.”

View this post on Instagram

To Our Wonderful Meridian Pint Community, I regret to inform you that one of our employees has contracted COVID-19. He was hospitalized and tested positive on Sunday, April 19th after not working in the restaurant for 9 days. . In an effort to keep the rest of our staff healthy, as well as ensure the safety of our guests, we have decided to shut down until further notice. . When dine-in service came to a halt, we implemented many safety precautions such as vigilant hand washing, proper use of masks and gloves, no-touch service, sterilized pens, and stringent cleaning procedures to stop any spread between employees and staff. . The employee who has contracted the virus had not come to work since Friday, April 10th, and we have been in close communication with all employees who had any contact with him in the days leading up to his last shift. Currently, no other employee has shown any signs or symptoms of the virus and we’re confident that it is an isolated incident. . We are going to reevaluate the situation after the proper 2-week quarantine has passed and as always, we are here to answer any questions or address any concerns you may have. . Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement through these challenging times. We are all praying for a safe and speedy recovery for our sick employee as well as the continued health and safety of those around us. . We hope to see you again very soon! . -John Andrade, Principal @meridianpint #seeyousoon

A post shared by Meridian Pint (@meridianpint) on

Meridian Pint had been running a takeout business for dinner service and groceries, along with growler fills, and to-go cocktails and beer cans.

Andrade notes Meridian Pint staff has followed proper protocols to prevent the spread of the virus, including “vigilant hand washing, proper use of masks and gloves, no-touch service, sterilized pens, and stringent cleaning procedures.”

The Arlington restaurant plans to “reevaluate” the situation after a two-week quarantine period has passed. Under Virginia’s stay-at-home order, currently set to expire June 10, restaurants in the state are limited to takeout and delivery.

Sibling D.C. restaurants Brookland Pint and Smoke & Barrel remain open for to-go service as usual, Andrade tells Eater.

Another Northern Virginia restaurant flagged potential exposure between employees and customers last month, when someone who frequented Old Town’s Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub the week before St. Patrick’s Day tested positive for COVID-19.

Meridian Pint

6035 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, Virginia 22205 703-300-9655 Visit Website