Boston Chipotle Hit by Norovirus Outbreak Reopens

The Chipotle location at the heart of a norovirus outbreak that sickened 136 people this month reopened Saturday.

The restaurant on Beacon Street in Boston's Brighton neighborhood was closed on Dec. 7 after patrons, including many Boston College students, fell ill.

"I didn't have any major episodes, but sometimes, I didn't feel quite right coming out," said John Kleim, who used to go to the restaurant before it closed.

Kleim says he won't be back.

"I think I'm going to wean myself off of this particular chain and moved to maybe another restaurant," he said.

Boston health inspectors cleared the restaurant to reopen Wednesday. One of the conditions was that every employee go through a food safety course to make sure all of the temperatures are right and, most importantly, the food is safe.

Chipotle also had to resupply and restock the entire restaurant.

"It didn't affect me, so I'm not nervous at all," said Liz Muldowney, one of the first customers to patronize the Chipotle after it reopened. "I've always eaten here and I've never gotten sick."

Muldowney says she is not worried at all.

The illnesses were not linked to a rash of E. coli cases that closed dozens of Chipotle restaurants across the country earlier in 2015.

Separate from Chipotle, California health officials said this week that they have seen 32 confirmed outbreaks of norovirus since the beginning of October.

Although Kleim won't be frequenting this Chipotle again, he thinks the long-term effects will be minimal.

"I think it's going to fade, just like the other scares, we had Tylenol in the past, we had other things that shocked us, but eventually, the public forgets," he said.

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