LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It’s disheartening in our current time of emphasized cleanliness to see the word "dirty" appearing so many times in a health inspection -- seven to be exact. And that’s not including the inspector’s use of other words like "contamination," "soiled" and "spoiled."
Hedary’s Mediterranean restaurant on Sahara Avenue and Tenaya Way earned those descriptive terms along with a 36-demerit C grade on its May 26 inspection.
The place was literally dirty from floor to ceiling and almost everywhere in between, beginning with employee's hands.
The importance of handwashing for at least 20 seconds while scrubbing with soap has led headlines during the pandemic and if working in a restaurant kitchen, handwashing is even more important.
At Hedary’s, the person in charge (who happened to be the chef) washed his hands for just five seconds. Not even close to good enough. In fact, the inspector said the chef didn’t wash his hands through most of the inspection.
Also, a food handler, wearing visibly dirty clothes, touched the floor, his clothes, and the back door, before proceeded to handle food without washing hands or a glove change.
Then, there’s the dirty food.
The inspector found unwashed, visibly dirty mushrooms in the make table, ready for customer use.
Mint in the refrigerator was brown and spoiled.
Sugar in the bulk bin and the simple syrup container in dry storage were contaminated with unidentifiable black specks.
Feta, hummus, baba ganoush, cut lettuce, and tomato in the make table were all in the temperature danger zone.
In-use utensils also sat in dirty water.
Raw beef was stored above french fries and a raw chicken kabob sat above raw beef.
Onions and lettuce were stored beneath rusty metal shelves.
Food containers stored as clean were dirty with old food and grease.
Containers, dicers, a food processor, knives and measuring cups, all in clean storage, were also dirty with old food build-up.
Cutting boards were heavily soiled, stained, and not cleanable.
The bread machine was heavily soiled with old food build-up.
Dirty wiping cloths sat on prep surfaces and the person in charge had a heavily soiled towel hanging from his pocket.
There were fish tank-type pebbles in a container of white sangria and mold in the ice machine.
Shelves were lined with foil and dirty towels.
There was heavy dust and grease build-up on the kitchen ceiling.
And handles of all units, bulk food containers, even light switches were dirty, sticky, and greasy.
Hedary’s must have worked all night to clean things up because it was back to an A grade the next day, May 27, with five demerits.
A message left for Chef Joey Davey requesting comment was not immediately returned.
Click here to see the health report for Hedary's Mediterranean Restaurant.
