Fire Officials Release Video of Suspects Spreading Accelerant After Bar 5015 Explosion

Welcome to AM Intel in the time of coronavirus, a round-up of the city’s newest bits of restaurant-related intel. Follow Eater on Facebook and Twitter for up-to-date details on how COVID-19 is impacting the city’s dining scene.

Video shows multiple suspects spreading accelerant at Bar 5015

Surveillance video from Bar 5015 on Almeda Road shows multiple suspects pouring and then lighting an accelerant on the deck of the popular Third Ward bar and brunch spot. The patio of Bar 5015 was destroyed in an early morning explosion on Friday, June 12. The blast also damaged other nearby restaurants and homes. Almost immediately, investigators said the event looked like arson.

The surveillance video was released this morning by the Houston Fire Department. Officials said the suspects in the video were likely burned during the event, and are asking people with any information on the fire to contact CrimeStoppers.

Petrol Station has apparently closed for good

Garden Oaks/Oak Forest’s Petrol Station, one the city’s first destinations for craft beer, has apparently closed for good. In March, the bar’s owners posted to Facebook that they were closing indefinitely due to Covid-19. In May, they started a GoFundMe to raise money to rebound from the pandemic. Then yesterday, a nearby resident posted to the Garden Oaks neighborhood Facebook page that workers were removing equipment from the building. A Twitter user posted that there was a for lease sign on display. The phone number listed for the bar has also been disconnected.

Petrol Station’s name came from the fact that the bar was housed in an old refurbished gas station. When it first opened in 2005, it was one of the city’s first destinations for craft beer lovers, who gathered in the spacious oak-lined back yard to drink unique beers from Houston’s then-nascent brewing scene.

Nonprofit has paid 165,000 hours worth of wages to laid off hospitality workers

Get Shift Done, the Dallas-based nonprofit founded in March to help support hospitality workers unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic, has released a 90-day update on their efforts, and the results are impressive. In just three months, the organization has served more than 18 million meals, registered 11,000 workers for shifts at local food banks, and has expanded to 11 cities. The goal of the nonprofit is to pay laid off workers an hourly wage to volunteer at food banks and other organizations fighting food insecurity.