The 99 Restaurant in Augusta, which was closed Thursday because of health and safety code violations, reopened Friday according to a city official. The bar and restaurant at 281 Civic Center Drive is part of a national chain that serves pub-style food. Ashley Allen/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — The 99 Restaurant, closed by Augusta city officials on Thursday over health and safety violations, reopened a day later.
Rob Overton, director of the city’s Code Enforcement Bureau said via text on Saturday that the restaurant was reopened on Friday.
“We authorized them to open yesterday (Friday) afternoon,” Overton said. “They did an incredible amount of work and took care of the critical issues to our satisfaction.”
The restaurant, at 281 Civic Center Drive, was ordered to close temporarily Thursday because of a major leak in the sprinkler system and a “substantial amount of wastewater in the basement.”
A call to the restaurant Saturday showed the restaurant is now open, but no one at the restaurant was authorized to speak to a reporter. A call to the corporate office Saturday was not immediately returned.
The Augusta Fire Department flagged several issues after firefighters responded to the restaurant Wednesday following an alert that restaurant’s fire alarm had detected a water flow. They noted that the sprinkler system had a leak that sprayed water into the seated bar area and soaked portions of the electrical system. A second leak was noted in the women’s bathroom.
Other violations included a faulty fire alarm system, serious electrical issues in the building, grease behind and near cooking equipment, an unsanitary kitchen area, mold in the basement, spoiled food in the walk-in refrigerator and emergency exits blocked or not lit up.
Overton inspected the restaurant at 11 a.m., Thursday and ordered it to close.
The 99 Restaurant passed its last recorded state health inspection on Jan. 4, 2022, but had five “non-critical” violations regarding food sanitary measures and restaurant cleanliness.
On Thursday, a company spokesperson said that all the chain’s restaurants must comply with local health and safety guidelines and could not comment further. Additionally, he would not comment about whether the national restaurant chain would pay employees for the time they were scheduled to work while the Augusta location is closed.
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