Hall’s on the River restaurant was closed over the weekend, but its potential re-opening could come sometime this week.
The seafood restaurant on Athens-Boonesboro Road was reportedly closed because of maintenance and cleanliness issues. A former employee identified as Chris Purvis shot video of bugs and mold in the restaurant and gave the footage to WKYT in Lexington.
Environmental Health Program Manager Carlene Whitt of the Clark County Health Department said she inspected the building but did not close it.
“I was down there in response to a complaint,” Whitt said. “There were some issues. The owner and manager volunteered to close to address those issues; I did not force any closure.”
Whitt said the issues were mostly general sanitation problems and she expected a call from ownership sometime today, after which she will complete a formal inspection.
“Mr. (Karl) Crase, the owner, anticipated addressing those issues over the weekend and would give me a call sometime today if they were complete with what they intended,” Whitt said. “I’ll do an inspection and make sure some critical problems were resolved.”
Crase could not be reached by phone, but he told WKYT there have been changes at the restaurant.
“We may have some disgruntled employees that aren’t happy with the change in management that we made and the management style and the level of accountability that they’re being held to,” he said.
Crase said he planned to have the restaurant open today.
