This Wisconsin restaurant shares a name with the latest Covid-19 variant
Like most restaurants, Omicron Family Restaurant in West Bend, Wisconsin, has endured many ups and downs during the pandemic. But nothing could have prepared owner Vasilios “Bill” Tsiampas for the latest Covid-related twist: The Greek restaurant his family opened more than 30 years ago shares a name with the newest Covid-19 variant, which was first reported to the World Health Organization on November 24 and has so far been identified in about half a dozen U.S. states. Tsiampas told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he originally picked the name Omicron—a letter in the Greek alphabet—because it was “catchy” and “easy to pronounce.” When the good-humored Tsiampas learned about the coincidence, he printed up novelty T-shirts. Starting today, customers can order a cold Corona beer at the bar and then take home an “I got Corona at Omicron” shirt. —Patricia I. Escárcega
