The Beverly sorry for any confusion after closure

The Beverly on Locke says there was no intention to mislead customers when the restaurant, which was shut down by the public health department, posted a sign on its door that it was closed for patio renovations.

“We didn’t want to deceive people,” said Victor Pasaran, financial analyst for The Beverly and investment management company Forge & Foster.

“We are closed because we didn’t pass a health inspection,” he said Tuesday. “In addition to being closed for that, we wanted to also mention we are preparing for the patio.”

Pasaran said the lunch and brunch restaurant voluntarily took down a sign reading, “The Beverly is closed today for construction and prep for our beautiful patio/backyard.”

In an Instagram post Tuesday, The Beverly stated: “We apologize if this additional notice misled the public in any way. This was not our intention and we are regretful of how it appeared to confuse the situation.”

However, a previous post to the photo-sharing site remained Tuesday evening reading, “Beverly will be closed Sunday for the renovation and preparation for her gorgeous Backyard.”

The Locke Street South restaurant was shut down at 1:45 p.m. on April 28 by the public health department, which placed a red closure sign in the bottom of a window at the entrance.

But that mandatory sign was absent from the storefront for some of Monday afternoon.

Later that day, the public health inspector moved it to a much more prominent location on the front door informing the public that the restaurant was shut down because “conditions in the food premises are an immediate health hazard.”

Food safety manager Richard MacDonald said it was closed due to a mouse infestation that the inspection listed as “severe.”

Pasaran said the restaurant uses a pest control company and staff “were not doing their job properly” when it came to cleaning the basement where dry foods are kept — and that is why mouse droppings were found.

“Take our sincere apologies,” said Pasaran. “It’s extremely serious. I am very embarrassed that this happened.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the four critical and 11 non-critical infractions found by the inspector were listed as resolved on the city’s website, suggesting The Beverly will be opening again.

“Immediately when I knew this was happening I said, ‘Let’s make sure we do everything correct, be as transparent as possible,’ ” he said. “We are prepared to clean whatever needs to be cleaned ... We want to make sure it’s done even beyond the standards of the health inspection.”

Pasaran wants to assure the public as The Beverly reopens, “Everything is going to be impeccable.”