No water closes diner

By JEANNETTE SCOTT
Staff Writer

After a mechanical breakdown and two bad report cards from state inspectors, a diner in Mount Joy Township closed a day after it opened.

Tic Tac Diner, 2000 W. Main St., opened Oct. 14 with approval of the state Department of Agriculture.

The diner had some cleaning to do first, according to an Oct. 9 inspection report and Chris Ryder, department spokesman.

"There were a few issues, but they were relatively minor," he said. "There was residue observed on the ceiling of the ice machine and grease splatter on the microwave."

These were corrected during inspection and Tic Tac Diner got a green light to operate at the site formerly occupied by Clearview Diner, next to Clearview Lanes bowling alley.

Things ran smoothly on opening day, said manager Dawn Warner.

The next day, a shallow well and failed pump left the diner without water, she said.

"The well was actually not deep enough," Warner explained.

"We didn't know we didn't have public water," until they ran out, said owner Zakaria Chaaraoui. "We had water, then we had no water, so we closed right away."

Oct. 15, a customer told the Department of Agriculture there was no running water in the bathroom, Ryder said.

An inspector investigated the complaint about 3 p.m. that day and found the restaurant closed. Restaurant staff told the inspector they closed at 1 p.m., according to Ryder.

The report from this inspection says the diner violated code because it didn't notify the department that it had closed due to a health hazard; it had no running water to clean food surfaces; and had no hot or cold running water in the facility.

Chaaraoui had the problem fixed.

"Of course we had to joke because Joe the Plumber was here, the one from Lancaster," Warner said.

The diner reopened Friday afternoon after passing a third inspection.

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Jeannette Scott is a Sunday News staff writer. Contact her at jscott@lnpnews.com or at 291-8689.