Six New Bedford restaurants fined for violations of COVID-19 orders to protect residents

New Bedford, Massachusetts– The New Bedford The New Bedford Health Department has issued fines to six New Bedford-based restaurants and bars for failure to comply with the City’s COVID-19 regulations and protections for residents.

Hong Kong Restaurant at 2899 Acushnet Avenue, Mikey B’s Restaurant at 989 Victoria Street, Taqueria La Raza at 1408 Acushnet Avenue, Whiskey Lounge at 1669 Acushnet Avenue, The Bar at 266 Dartmouth Street, and Casa Benfica at 1484 Acushnet Avenue were fined for their failure to comply with the regulations.

Hong Kong Restaurant, Whiskey Lounge and The Bar were cited for serving alcoholic beverages without food, and for failure for employees to wear masks.

Mikey B’s and Taqueria La Raza were cited for failure of employees to wear masks.

Casa Benfica was cited for serving alcoholic beverages without food.

Fines were issued in the following amounts:

• Hong Kong Restaurant: Fined $300
• Mike B’s Restaurant: Fined $100
• Taqueria La Raza: Fined $100
• Whiskey Lounge: Fined $300
• The Bar: Fined $300
• Casa Benfica: Fined $100

Violation orders were issued on October 14 after inspections by the New Bedford Police Department and the New Bedford Health Department.

Earlier this year, Mayor Jon Mitchell and the Board of Health announced emergency orders to keep employees safe at their place of work, and to outline reporting requirements of COVID-19 in the workplace. The orders include strong measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces.

Businesses will be subject to fines for failure to comply with the City’s orders, including failure to protect employees and failure to notify the Health Department of an outbreaks. The orders can be found on New Bedford’s COVID-19 webpage: https://www.newbedford-ma.gov/health-department/coronavirus/.