• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- Gold is not the standard in this week's Dirty Dining.

Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears visits a place that has a lot of cleaning up to do to get back to the quality conveyed by its name.

Golden China in the Paradise Marketplace on Flamingo and Sandhill isn't earning medals of any color right now.

On July 25, it was shut down with 58 demerits.

Inspectors took more than 90 pictures during a three-hour inspection and left the place with a long to-do list.

They had to toss breaded chicken that wasn't safe, as well as other stuff in the temperature "danger zone," like cut cabbage, bean sprouts, garlic and oil.

Red peppers were keeping company with dirty dishes.  And speaking of strange bedfellows, inspectors found an employee hat on top of food.

Moving on to other things that shouldn't be near each other... Raw meat stored over buckets of sauces is a no-no. As are lye bottles stored alongside sesame seeds

There was a dried up, dark substance on the can opener, which inspectors couldn't even identify.

And it looks like the chickens who gave their lives for Golden China patrons get little respect in the kitchen. Some was being thawed in a utility sink. And some was stored on the floor.

Just like chicken shouldn't touch the floor, scoop handles shouldn't touch food. Inspectors photographed one spoon that no one would want touching anything they ate.

And here's a question no one should have to ask: When will restaurants understand that trash cans are not appropriate for food storage? Golden China used a trash can to store uncooked rice.

Inspectors also found pineapple syrup "beyond its shelf life." One month beyond, to be exact.

And pest control receipts showed they stopped that service in March and it was obvious. Cockroaches, flies, and ants were found everywhere in the kitchen.

Contact 13 paid a visit to Golden China, only to find it empty.

We called the number on the window and got a voicemail message that says they're closed because they're doing some construction.  But if you read the sign posted on the door, you can see they're closed for an entirely different reason.

Inspectors came back a couple days after the first inspection to see if Golden China was ready to re-open, but the restaurant failed its re-inspection due to a repeat major violation and imminent health hazard in the form of "pest infestation."

Whatever is crawling in is staying for lunch, dinner, and beyond. Inspectors found entire roach families -- what they call "multi-generational roaches" -- in numerous areas throughout the kitchen.

And the pests didn't stay in the kitchen. There was also a spider found under a dining table.

During re-inspection inspectors also noted sprouts growing on potatoes -- the Health District told them to throw out. Their response -- those potatoes are for employees only. Wonder how the employees feel about that?

No one from Golden China returned our call for comment.  And they're still shut down until the Health District is convinced they've got their pest problem under control.