City Winery, a restaurant in New York City, is trying a new approach to indoor dining during the pandemic. Two nights a week, all patrons and staffers at its Manhattan location have to take a rapid virus test on-site and get an all-clear before coming in.
The tests cost $50 per person and comes with a glass of sparkling wine.
Michael Dorf, Founder and CEO of City Winery, said: “We’re charging $50 for a rapid antigen COVID test. The $50 includes a glass of champagne. So, you know, it’s not that expensive.”
City Winery’s testing debuted Tuesday. Masked patrons had their noses swabbed by healthcare professionals.
The customers sipped sparkling wine as they waited about 15 minutes for results.
With 160 reservations, no patrons tested positive. One staffer did and immediately went home without starting work.
Rapid tests have become widely used in recent months. They’re faster and cheaper alternatives to tests that have to be sent to labs for processing, but aren’t considered as accurate as lab-processed tests.
