GENOA – A downtown Genoa restaurant known for its "famous" Italian beef, according to its owner, is back up and running after being closed for nearly two weeks for renovations following DeKalb County Health Department recommendations.
Ali Ahmed, owner of Corner Grill on Main, said the restaurant was closed for 13 days to replace the building's ceiling and floors. He said he expected the work to last for 10 days but contractor issues came up, so he had to shift gears and hire Cortland Flooring.
"They did a great job, and as you can hear, the phones are ringing and things are going great," Ahmed said.
Greg Maurice, health protection director for the DeKalb County Health Department, said the restaurant had violations related to the original porcelain ceramic flooring being cracked and therefore hard to clean. Before installing the current quarry tile, which is more typical of kitchen settings, the restaurant first replaced that floor with a temporary fix that resembles the type of matted flooring you'd see in a workout area, he said.
“But it’s not made to stand up to kitchen environment, so it was already coming up," Maurice said. "All of the 2 foot by 2 foot squares that were linked together were all peeling up and causing a trip hazard and they couldn’t be cleaned properly.”
But, Maurice said, the health department didn't outright shut them down because of that violation, along with a few other more typical violations related to food temperature and handling food without gloves. Those are the types of things that can be fixed with the health department there or eventually replaced at the advisement of the health department, he said.
“It was nothing at that point of where they had to be closed now,” Maurice said.
For context, Maurice said, violations that would warrant an immediate shut-down for a restaurant include no hot water, sewage back-ups, pest and rodent infestations and power outages.
Genoa Mayor Mark Vicary said he was aware of the restaurant being closed for renovations after seeing a Feb. 18 Facebook post, which has since been deleted, from the restaurant's page about it. He said he was not aware of the DeKalb County Health Department's involvement in the necessary renovations.
Vicary said Corner Grill is a "mainstay of Genoa" and is a big revenue driver for the downtown area. He said the city needs the business to do well so it can continuing bringing a lot of people into the area.
“A healthy and successful business is good for everybody,” Vicary said.
• Daily Chronicle Editor Christopher Heimerman contributed to this report.
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