Tin Jo set to reopen Wednesday

The Health Ministry has lifted its injunction to close downtown San José restaurant Tin Jo. The popular pan-Asian cuisine establishment will reopen Wednesday for lunch and dinner during its regular hours.

The restaurant’s owners, Maria Hon and Robert Faulstich, posted messages announcing the reopening on Tin Jo’s Facebook page.

Tin Jo fans expressed support for the restaurant after it was shut down by health inspectors last Friday for health violations.

Health Vice Minister Mauricio Vargas told The Tico Times on Friday that the ministry had received reports of food poisoning from customers. A subsequent health inspection found the restaurant lacked plans for several procedures. Some employees did not have food handling licenses, Vargas said. He also cited sanitary problems, including raw meat, fish and chicken stored together.

Via Facebook, Tin Jo management gave a few short updates to its customers on the cleanup process after the closure.

Shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday, Tin Jo announced that after five days the restaurant had “fine-tuned and perfected its procedures” and would return with “batteries recharged” and “staff 100 percent motivated.”

The restaurant owners then thanked their loyal clients who had posted hundreds of messages of encouragement during the closure: “We want to give infinite thanks to our many friends and customers that have supported us and illuminated us throughout this process. We are sure that the positive energy and thoughts have allowed everything to progress smoothly. We are very happy to reopen our doors to all so that we an serve you again!”

Attempts to reach the owners have been unsuccessful. The family has been on vacation in China.