Terrapin Crossroads
photo via Terrapin Crossroads' Facebook

Phil Lesh's restaurant & venue shut down after staff member tests positive for COVID-19

Terrapin Crossroads, the San Rafael, CA restaurant and music venue founded by The Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh, reopened in mid-June after being closed throughout the coronavirus pandemic. On Saturday, June 13, they served food, drinks, and hosted acoustic sets from Grahame Lesh and Stu Allen; ticket purchases even came with “a custom video greeting from Phil to your party, thanking you for being a part of this long, strange trip!” Announcing the reopening, they warned, “The health and safety of our community is still our top priority as we reopen in this new environment, and we ask you to please read all safety protocols and instructions at the time of ticket purchase!” Their individual ticket pages also read:

Please choose your table, identified by letter on the map below, from the available tickets. Each table has a set check-in time and table capacity. You may bring no more people than your indicated table capacity. You may have fewer people than your table accommodates, but there will be no refunds given for unused seats. According to Marin County safety protocols, all members of your party must reside in the same household.

Safety is our #1 priority as we open in this new environment. Our standards meet and in many cases exceed the safety standards set by the state and county for minimizing the spread of COVID-19. Phil is an organ recipient, so we are especially cautious! We want coming to Terrapin to be a low-risk experience for our guests of all immunity levels. We ask that you are understanding of our new following rules & procedures as we all strive for the safest and smoothest experience possible. You will be asked to read and agree to these new procedures upon ticket purchase. If you don’t wish to comply with these guidelines, we ask that you wait to visit Terrapin under different circumstances.

After that they opened regularly almost through the end of the end of the month, until June 25, when they posted a message saying:

It’s been wonderful regaining some sense of normalcy around Terrapin Crossroads, but this trains got its brakes on. We’ve just been notified that one of our staff members has a mild fever. We refuse to take any health risks in this phase of reopening and given this information, we’ve decided not to open today. Our Dinner & A Show events scheduled for this weekend have been rescheduled for July.

We’re determined to keep the health and safety of our community at the highest priority as we reopen in this environment, and will continue to evaluate each day with an abundance of caution. All staff members are being tested for Covid-19 and we will only operate if we can be 100% sure our staff is healthy.

We are as disappointed as you are, but want to be sure that we’re creating the safest environment for our friends, family, and community.

Thank you for your support as we work towards a place where we all feel safe and comfortable together. We know we’ll be there soon.

As of Wednesday (7/1), however, a staff member has officially tested positive for COVID-19, and the restaurant closed. Their statement reads:

Terrapin Nation:

It has come to our attention that a member of the Terrapin Crossroads staff tested positive for COVID-19. Given this information, we are closing immediately. Terrapin is committed to taking every precaution to ensure the health and safety of our beloved staff and community. We will continue to monitor developments related to COVID-19 and will reassess our ability to safely open at the end of July.

Our Dinner & A Show Events celebrating 50 Years of Workingman’s Dead and 50 years since Festival Express will be rescheduled to later dates this summer. Your tickets will be honored, you don’t have to do anything.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

🎶 I wanna say to my sisters and my brothers
Keep the faith
When the storm flies and the wind blows
Go on at a steady pace 🎶

Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom has reversed course, and ordered bars closed, and indoor service at restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, zoos, museums, and more shut down for three weeks in 19 counties that are on the “monitoring list” for spikes in COVID-19 cases.