Dear Valued Farmer Boys Guest,
Like a good farmer, our attention to the safety and well-being of our guests, team members, and communities is one of our core values and is our highest priority. When you visit one of our restaurants, you are part of our Farmer Boys family. While we have always maintained very high standards for cleaning and sanitizing our restaurants as part of our daily protocol, the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reinforces to us the importance of those standards. I am writing to let you know the steps we are taking in our restaurants to protect our guests and our team members.
At Farmer Boys, we have always practiced exceptionally high standards in food safety, sanitation, and restaurant cleanliness. By making our food from “scratch”, we have a keen understanding of how to maintain safe and effective food safety standards. We work directly with our local suppliers and distributors to ensure products maintain levels of safety at every step of the way to our restaurants.
We practice rigorous and detailed daily sanitation and hygiene procedures in our restaurants. Our team members wash their hands frequently, use plastic gloves when handling food, sanitize food and guest contact areas frequently, and are individually trained on food safety standards before working any job station. We have a strict “stay home if sick” policy, and team members are eligible for state-mandated sick pay.
We also have several systems in place to measure and maintain high food safety and sanitation standards. In addition to regular Health Department inspections, we also conduct third-party food safety audits regularly using Steritech, a national expert in effective restaurant food safety standards and training. We supplement these with internal quality audits.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve enhanced these many procedures to further strengthen our approach. Things may look and feel a bit different at your local Farmer Boys on your next visit, and it’s all being done with you in mind. Here are some of the extra measures we’ve introduced:
- We’ve increased the intensity and frequency with which we sanitize surfaces (countertops, tables, seats, and floors), doors and door handles, kitchen equipment, condiment stations, and bathrooms throughout the day.
- In the next few weeks, we’ll be installing hand sanitizer dispensers in every restaurant.
- All condiments, utensils, napkins, and self-serve items will now be handed out by our Farmer Boys team members and are also available upon request.
- We will continue to follow updates and protocol suggested by the CDC, local Departments of Public Health, and the World Health Organization to best ensure the safety of our guests and team members.
- During this evolving and fluid situation, you may see certain Farmer Boys restaurants adjusting hours or modifying our operations. There may even be moments where we temporarily choose to close a restaurant if we feel it’s in the interest of the safety of our team members, guests, and community.
In addition to these procedural changes, we invite you to request single-use, disposable cups, cutlery, and straws if you prefer. We’ve always happily honored special requests, and we will continue to do so.
We want to remind you that you can always order ahead by calling any of our restaurants, and we’ll have your order ready when you walk in. Additionally, we invite you to use our drive-thru lanes where we’ll cook your meal to order.
The Farmer Boys family is taking every precaution possible to provide a safe and clean place to dine every day. We are in this for you and will navigate these challenging circumstances with one priority only – the health and safety of our guests and team members.
We look forward to seeing and serving you soon.
Karen Eadon
President and COO
