Restaurants reopen after water boil advisory lifted in coastal communities

WESTBROOK, Conn. (WFSB) - Bill’s Seafood reopened Saturday afternoon amidst a water boil advisory that forced shoreline restaurants to shut down the night before.

The advisory was issued after Connecticut Water detected E. coli during routine testing in nearby Essex.

The restaurant’s owner said he learned at 8:15 p.m. Friday that the business had to close, sending customers home. The restaurant was unable to open at its usual time Saturday morning.

Before reopening, staff brought in portable sinks, sanitized the facility and obtained new ice. Bill’s Seafood opened at 2 p.m. Saturday with the health department’s knowledge — more than two hours before the boil advisory was lifted at 4:15 p.m.

During that window, the restaurant served food on disposable plates and offered only bottled water and drinks. Owner Mark Leopoldino said the restaurant was packed throughout the day.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Leopoldino said. “It could have been very devastating with a big weekend planned. They have fireworks in town here tonight. The big 250 celebrations. We have a live band tonight so it would have been terrible to have to close and terrible for everybody so I’m glad it was lifted and we were able to open.”

As of Saturday evening, the restaurant continued sanitizing, kept portable sinks on-site and was still serving bottled water to customers. New water tests came back safe, clearing the way for normal operations to resume at Bill’s Seafood and other restaurants impacted by the water boil advisory.