Buba Noodle Bar to reopen after salmonella outbreak

Jun. 8—Buba Noodle Bar in Manchester is set to reopen on Thursday after a salmonella outbreak forced the restaurant to close for weeks.

The restaurant has been deemed safe to reopen, but the cause of the outbreak remains under investigation, according to Jake Leon, public information officer for the state Department of Health and Human Services.

"The restaurant has undergone a complete environmental cleaning," he said.

The restaurant voluntarily closed May 20.

One of the seven people infected needed to be hospitalized. No additional people were infected since the closing, Leon said.

The Manchester Health Department ordered the restaurant to stay closed until all prepared food was thrown out, the restaurant received a deep-cleaning, and all staff tested negative for salmonella.

"The restaurant has complied with the Manchester Health Department during its investigation of the facility," Leon said. "MHD and DHHS continue to investigate known cases and reach out to people who ate there during the time frame in question in an effort to determine the scope of the outbreak."

The restaurant will have a soft opening on Thursday and "grand reopening" on Friday.

Some changes were made to the restaurant while closed.

"We have redone the patio — new lights, new plants, and a whole new look," a post on Facebook reads. "The rest room will have a new face and our bar area has been renovated too. We are hopeful you will love the new look as much as we do."

Previous posts said customer safety is the No. 1 concern.

"This has certainly been a challenging time, but again, we want to assure you that our goal is customer safety first," the post reads. "We look forward to offering high quality food, possibly a few new dishes, and some opportunity for fun when we reopen."

Buba Noodle Bar opened in 2018 and was recognized in 2020 for its service providing meals to children when schools first closed for COVID-19, and received a grant to upgrade its kitchen equipment.

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