Contact 13
Dirty Dining: Chow Mein Express
Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- According to health inspectors, the restaurant in this week's report puts the "dirty" in Dirty Dining. And, it's a repeat offender.
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.
They should be displaying the Health District's closure sign, but that's missing. And that means Chow Mein Express 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.
The lights were off and nobody was home at the eatery on South Durango near Flamingo
Their previous appearance on Dirty Dining came last May, when they were closed with 46 demerits.
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.
One sink looks like it hasn't seen soap for some time.
To say the cutting board is stained and no longer cleanable is a bit of an understatement.
Inspectors also found food was being prepared in the mop sink. And raw beef was stored in another sink next to dirty dishes.
Cooked noodles, shrimp, raw and cooked chicken and raw beef were all at unsafe temperatures -- not sure what that leaves that is safe.
The won-tons inspectors photographed are suspect because the dough sheets used to make them were wrapped in a soiled towel.
Equipment stored as clean was soiled with food debris.
The soda nozzles were dirty.
And prepared food in the walk-in fridge wasn't labeled or dated.
Since no one was at Chow Mein Express, we called the phone number on the health report to try to find someone we could talk to.
But it was the phone inside the restaurant and it just rang and ran with no answer, no voicemail.
And for now, no business as they remain shut down.
After we told the Health District about that "closed for remodeling" sign, the inspector went back out and placed another closed sign over the one the facility posted.
Chow Mein Express will have to have a supervisory conference at the Health District before they'll be allowed to re-open.







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