More restaurateurs decry state’s listing for bad beef

Two more Newport Beach restaurant owners have protested the appearance of their businesses’ names on a state list of retailers who may have purchased tainted beef from a slaughterhouse in Chino.

David Bonadonna, the owner of the Shore House Cafe, said his restaurant had ordered cuts of meat from a vendor that had done business with the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., but none of the 143 million pounds of recalled ground beef ever made it to the Shore House. A number of Newport-Mesa businesses have complained about a list posted online this week by the state Department of Public Health, which names retailers suspected of having used beef from the Chino plant.

Gerry Ross, the vice president of the Pueblo Trading Co. in Newport Beach, said his wholesale food distributor had a brief connection last year with a vendor that bought from Westland/Hallmark, but only for a one-time purchase of burritos in February. The short relationship, he said, didn’t warrant inclusion on the state list.

“I think it’s unfair they would have listed us, especially since we never purchased beef from Westland/Hallmark directly,” Ross said.

— Michael Miller