Tag Archives: las vegas

Closed for Renovations means closed by health department; Dirty dining in Vegas

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The sign on the door says ” Closed for Renovations.” But on Feb. 7, Chow Mein Express was closed by the Health District after racking up 43 demerits.

Darcy Spears of KTNV explains they should be displaying the Health District’s closure sign, but that’s missing. And that means Chow Mein Chow Mein Express.vegasExpress is in even more trouble for trying to hide the reason for their closure from the public.

“Hello? Anybody home? Anybody in there remodeling?” Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears called through the locked door.

When inspectors were there on Feb. 7, they found an imminent health hazard.

There was “no working refrigeration” according to the health report.

Add that to the fact that just about everything in the place was dirty and you’ve got an easy recipe for closure.

Photos inspectors took show the restaurant hadn’t bothered to clean up spilled fried rice and chunks of meat on the floor.

Inspectors found most of the equipment was dirty–the oven, wok, food containers, utensils, prep tables, floor sinks, floors and walls–that pretty much describes the whole place.

Oh, and there was no sanitizer around to clean anything.

Employees weren’t washing their hands and it wouldn’t have mattered much if they did, because there was no soap at the handsinks.

Inspectors also found food was being prepared in the mop sink. And raw beef was stored in another sink next to dirty dishes.

Fancy food ain’t safe food; norovirus outbreak among attendees of a dinner gala at Griffin Mansions –Las Vegas

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The Southern Nevada Health District, which does an excellent job providing timely write-ups of foodborne illness investigations, reports on a norovirus (NoV) outbreak among 203 attendees of a dinner gala at Griffin Mansions on May 9, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The source of the norovirus infection was not identified, but the investigation revealed an unlicensed kitchen and a domestic well that norovirus-2might have provided contaminated potable water. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of attendees, surveillance for additional illnesses, employee interviews regarding food preparation, and testing of well groundwater and clinical specimens. Of 108 attendees included in our study, 51 (47%) reported illness consistent with our primary-case definition. Additionally, 12 persons reported illness consistent with our secondary-case definition, including 5 (nonattendee) household contacts of ill attendees, 4 persons who attended the event with a household partner and developed symptoms of illness several days after their partners became ill, and 3 attendees whose illness symptoms began too late to have been considered primary cases but whose contact with primary-case attendees was not determined. Epidemiologic analysis identified statistical associations between consuming several food items and subsequently becoming ill, but no other evidence exists to explain their associations with the outbreak. Seven stool samples collected from ill gala attendees and an asymptomatic staff member were positive for norovirus genotype I. Fecal coliforms were isolated in potable water collected from the onsite well. Norovirus testing of well water was negative. Businesses that cater to large groups must prepare food in licensed settings and adhere to regulations regarding public water systems.

Handwashing is hard with a sink full of light bulbs

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That was just one of many violations health inspectors found when they visited S & K Food Mart II on South Las Vegas Boulevard between Pebble and Serene.

Darcy Spears of KTNV reports store Owner Sarkis Nersessian tried to downplay the 35-demerit “C” grade from the Health District.

“They came in, they said one of my employees didn’t have a health card and that’s why they dropped it down.”

Actually, the health card — which expired in 2009 — was just one line out of four pages of violations. Starting with bad sour cream that was almost two weeks old.

“Well, I don’t know how old it was.  I didn’t check it,” Nersessian said.

The sausage sandwiches at S & K may be a risky breakfast choice. Inspectors found several problems with how they were being thawed and reheated.

Nersessian blames that on the manufacturer and walks away.

“I have a few more questions for you,” Spears called after him.

“I don’t care,” he called back from across the store.
But a few second later, he decides he does care and brings us back to see the construction area.

“It used to be pizza.  We took out everything.  We put burgers now.”

And as for those sausage sandwiches, he says, “I told the guy I don’t want to carry your product anymore because I don’t want to have the issue with the Health Department.”

Health inspectors also took issue with laundry detergent being stored with the Slurpee mix, dirty refrigerator racks and brown slime touching the ice inside the ice machine.

“It was a couple brown spots.  It’s supposed to happen.  We clean it once every month.”

Nersessian says he just bought the place and is making lots of changes.

“And uh, Dirty Dining is really gonna affect me, he adds.  “Should I close the doors now?”

We assure him he shouldn’t so he decides to make it a business opportunity instead.

“Don’t forget to let them know that we have the cheapest gas in town year-round.”

‘Sometimes the inspector, they get so over-inspecting’ Dirty Dining in Vegas

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Darcy Spears of KTNV reports the Home Plate Grill and Bar and Oh’s Convenience Store Deli each earned 37-demerit “C” grades and narrowly avoiding closure by the Southern Nevada Health District.

At Oh’s on Swenson near Harmon, inspectors found a number of things out of the safe temperature zone, including tamales, chicken wings and egg rolls.

“We always do pretty darn good here,” said Mrs. Oh. “Really, really good here. But we have a new employee.  That’s what comes up, the little bit of problem we got.”

Mrs. Oh said they thought the temperature was fine where they keep the oatmeal, chili and fried rice, but inspectors say the fried rice wasn’t hot enough.

“If our inspector say it’s not, that means it’s not OK.  Because we’re not the boss.  They are the boss.”

Inspectors also found built-up debris on the soda nozzles. One looks like a rusty old car part.

“Sometimes they, I don’t know, sometimes the inspector, they get so over-inspecting,” Oh said.

At Home Plate Grill & Bar on Blue Diamond near Decatur, their grill’s 37-demerit “C” grade came from things like uncovered food in the fridge.  They also say chili verde was voluntarily discarded by the person in charge because inspectors found it wasn’t at the proper temperature “after 12 hours in the cooling process in a five gallon plastic container.”

When we stopped by, the owner wasn’t there, so we left a card, and ended up with a written statement from the owner, which says:

“We are a great family establishment and work closely with the Southern Nevada Health District to ensure the health and safety of our guests.

Equipment location & manner of disposal of a few daily drops of condensation water became a large matter in this recent inspection.  Upon notification from the health department of new expectations we immediately responded to their concerns and successfully corrected all violations and now have restored our A Grade.  This type of effort and company safety policies and programs also contributed to receiving an A Grade in the Buffet and an A Grade in Bar area, on a surprise visit December 17, 2012.”

The yuck factor at Home Plate came in the form of a month-old carton of buttermilk, expired containers of half and half, and the grease-caked top of their kitchen salamander–which is a commercial broiler.

Spiritual growth, holistic healing and Dirty Dining, all at Ganesha Center Café in Vegas

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The Ganesha Center was founded as a sanctuary for the spirit after a near-death experience awakened the owner to her true life path.

In addition to a happy hour, they offer vibrational healing, meditation reiki, yoga and spiritual growth.

But the cafe narrowly avoided closure with a 38-demerit “C” grade.

Ganesha Center’s logo is the Hindu god Ganesha, which has an elephant head.

Darcy Spears, head of KTNV’s crack investigative team, reports some cheese inspectors photographed looked like elephant skin… Really moldy elephant skin.

Chef Pat Marcy says he didn’t even know that stuff was in his fridge.

“There’s no tolerance for contaminated food, food that’s not right, outdated food.  If I would have saw that, it gets disposed of.”

Inspectors found plenty of outdated food.

Whipping cream had expired ten days before.

The milk was six days past its expiration date.

The soy milk may be great with cereal, as the label says… But not if it’s almost a month old. The stuff at Ganesha Center had expired before Halloween.

“It sometimes gets pushed to the back, and that’s on us,” Chef Marcy admitted.

Inspectors also found ham and chicken salad that were both a week old, and spore growth on the jalapenos.

“I’m not trying to be obstinate, but it wasn’t actually spore growth,” Chef Marcy said.  “It was olive oil mixed in with the jalapenos, which puts a glaze on it.”

Pat says he contested it with the Health District, but doesn’t want to argue with them about it.

“Everything has been rectified within an hour of when this came up.”

Inspectors say cold tomatoes, tzatziki sauce and bean sprouts were at unsafe temperatures and several prepared foods weren’t date labeled.

There was food debris on a clean bowl, the slicer had some dried food on it, and some of the to-go containers were dirty.

They were also thawing hummus in a handsink.

And how ’bout a little Windex with your cous-cous? That’s a storage no-no.

Pat says he’s been at this for 25 years, and takes the bad inspection personally.

“I don’t like walking in in the morning and seeing that “C” up there.  We take cleanliness seriously.  We take our business seriously and we take pride in what we put out.  So that hurts.”

Gun tossed into deep fryer at Vegas restaurant goes off

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As many were debating the merits of NBC sports announcer Bob Costas editorializing Sunday about the need for gun control in the U.S. after a tragic murder and subsequent suicide by a professional football player in Kansas City, a gun was tossed in a deep fryer in a Las Vegas restaurant and fired shots.

A Las Vegas police report obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal says that one of the restaurant workers told police that a man had asked her to hold his gun for him when police showed up, but she refused.

So he tossed into the deep-fryer.

And it exploded.

The deep-fried gun ended up not hurting anyone.

Changes planned after Las Vegas marathon illness probe

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On Dec. 4, 2011, some 44,000 runners participated in the annual Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon in Las Vegas. About 500 got sick with sapovirus.

A health district investigation determined that people were probably exposed to the virus the morning before the race — maybe at a runners’ expo where race numbers were distributed, although water distribution during the race had been suspected.

This year, organizers are promising several changes, including strict sanitation rules and a contractor supplying water to runners.

Trump steakhouse in Las Vegas fails inspection

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A Las Vegas Strip restaurant bearing the initials of celebrity financier Donald Trump was briefly shut down after health inspectors found violations including month-old caviar and expired yogurt.

DJT, the signature steakhouse at the Trump International Hotel, reopened Nov. 2 with a restored “A” grade — several hours after Southern Nevada Health District officials logged 51 violations during a routine inspection.

Thirty violations merit a “C” grade, district spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore said Friday.

Inspectors reported finding outdated, expired, unlabeled, mishandled and improperly stored food, according to a summary posted on the health district’s website. The closure was first reported by KTNV-TV as part of a “Dirty Dining” segment focused on area restaurants.

Inspectors found no measures to destroy parasites in undercooked halibut and salmon, and noted that raw tuna was being improperly thawed. Icicles were found in a faulty freezer.

A hotel marketing manager told KTNV that adjustments were made immediately, and delivering an exceptional experience to guests is a top priority.

 

Health inspectors kicked off property while trying to inspect Las Vegas restaurant

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KTNV reports this week’s restaurant actually kicked health inspectors off their property. But, as Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears reports, that didn’t stop them from being shut down. The pictures really do tell the story of Ellis Island restaurant’s 60-demerit closure.

Parts of the eatery inside the Koval Lane casino looked like a scene from a slasher movie. Inspectors found excessive, old food debris caked on equipment and splashed-on walls, doors, ceilings — just about everywhere they looked.

All the images make it hard to imagine what was actually clean.

And check out what health inspectors documented in their report.

 They wrote, “During the inspection, the person in charge came to the table where inspectors were writing their report and told them they had to leave because Ellis Island was private property and inspectors were not allowed to be on their property.” 

That got restaurant management called into the District’s version of the principal’s office — a “supervisory conference” with Health District higher-ups. Before getting kicked out, inspectors documented multiple violations for lack of handwashing.

They also found employees doing some illegal dumping of degreaser, grey water and garbage into the storm drain.

As for the food, the cottage cheese was supposed to be enjoyed by Oct. 6. But inspectors found it in the fridge three weeks later.

The red sauce on the pizza and some stew were also expired. And so was deli meat, which inspectors found coated with a white substance. The sour cream had a yellow substance on it, along with a crumbling texture and no date.

Other violations included employee clothes next to food and on equipment and a potato peeler sitting on top of someone’s furry jacket.

Black growth in the ice machine caused it to be red-tagged and taken out of use.

Pans and other equipment were stacked as clean, but were actually caked with old food debris.

Dozens of soiled towels sat on cutting boards and other food contact surfaces. And clean towels were being stored in an oven with excessive, dried food debris.

Sushi eaters beware: floor sink spewing waste onto bar floor at Sin City Sushi

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A southeast valley restaurant that adopted Las Vegas’ nickname had its sushi bar shut down by the Health District because of an imminent health hazard.

KTNV reports Sin City Sushi committed a sanitation sin so severe that it alone was enough to shut down the sushi bar inside this restaurant on Eastern Avenue near the 215.

A big part of the sushi bar’s 45 demerits was a floor sink, which was overflowing and spewing liquid waste onto the sushi bar floor, making it impossible to keep a safe and sanitary environment for food prep.

We went there looking for answers and the owner’s wife, Yu Chung, told us they were waiting on a plumber the day health inspectors just happened to drop by.

Darcy Spears: Buy why didn’t you just voluntarily shut down if you knew it was such a big problem?
Yu Chung: I don’t know.

The plumbing problem extended to the handsinks. Inspectors found one had no hot water and the other had no water at all.

They also found sushi rice way out of the safe temperature zone and employees using duct tape for handles on the sushi cases.

Chung showed us that the sushi case doors now have real handles.

And she, like many other small restaurant owners we’ve spoken to, is suspicious of the Health District’s motives.

Yu: I think they need more money.
Darcy: You think they need more money and that’s why they write stuff up?
Yu: Yes.

The Health District says they’re focused on correcting violations, not collecting money. They say the “C” downgrades and closures which generate those high re-inspection fees are only four percent of all routine food inspections.