LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Darcy Spears serves up the first Dirty Dining report of 2019. And though the year is new, the violations will sound familiar, cockroaches and dirt.
"I'm Darcy Spears from Channel 13. We're here because you guys are on Dirty Dining tonight for the recent closure that you experienced from the Health District for the cockroach infestation and we just want to speak to whoever's in charge to make sure we get your side of the story," says Darcy.
That's the first time I've uttered those words in the new year. And the restaurant's explanation is a first too. The person in charge at Bombay Indian Cuisine said the inspector only found roaches because he went to wash his hands.
"He is going outside. Everything's done. He said, 'ok, let's go home.' Like, finished everything. And he went to wash his hands," says Rick Patel of Bombay Indian Cuisine.
According to the Health District, Bombay in the Gold Key Shops on Las Vegas Boulevard near Convention Center Drive was infested with multi-generational roaches, resulting in a shut down on December 17.
"And he see a dead cockroach. One, dead," says Patel.
"Well, the report says that there were live roaches throughout the kitchen and dead roaches as well. There was even a live roach in your ice." says Darcy.
"I see that time dead," says Patel.
"You only saw the one dead one?" asks Darcy.
"Yeah, I am there only. I am standing there," says Patel.
"There are pictures that the Health District took that show live ones as well," says Darcy.
"I know, I have also pictures. Then, he finding it. I said 'okay, no problem, you can find it, relax, I'm seeing all the stuff. He's finding that. So he find two more live cockroaches," says Patel.
The Health District's pictures show live roaches crawling on walls and ceilings, dead ones on the floor and this live one crawling inside the ice machine. There were also heavy cockroach droppings along walls near the sink. Despite that, Patel disagrees with the inspector calling it an infestation.
"For two cockroaches you are telling me to shut down? Whatever. No problem," says Patel.
"I guess some people would say even one roach is too many, right?" says Darcy.
"That's true. That's only I feel bad," says Patel.
Other violations included soiled walls, food prep counters and ceilings, a utensil stored in stagnant dirty water on the stove, greasy ventilation hoods and holes in kitchen walls and base covering.
"They also made a note that the entire facility was in need of general deep cleaning because they noted a lot of stuff was dirty in the kitchen," says Darcy.
"Yes. So we told them that we need--January only we are doing the whole restaurant renovation," says Patel.
As for the food, there were a lot of items not protected from contamination including an open bag of flour in dry storage and ground chickpeas and mashed vegetables in the fridge. I asked Patel if we could get any video in the kitchen but he declined.
"Alright, we'll take your word for it that the kitchen looks good?" says Darcy.
"Thank you," says Patel.
Bombay was back to a zero-demerit A grade on December 19, but due to the closure and multiple consecutive failed inspections, it's now in the Health District's administrative process. That means more frequent inspections and onsite intervention training.
Other imminent health hazard closures:
Yummy Box Cafe on Spring Mountain and Arville was shut down December 20 for operating with no water--so there was no way for staff to wash their hands or anything else. And that's an imminent health hazard. It re-opened with a three-demerit A grade the next day. Owner Jessica Chen said if was their fault and she knows they should have self-closed but there were customers in the restaurant and she thought the problem would be quickly fixed. She says when they opened that day they did have running water so she wasn't aware of the scope of the problem as it originated elsewhere in the mall.
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Grill City inside Seafood City supermarket on Arroyo Crossing near Tenaya and the 215 was shut down December 17 for no hot water. The person in charge told inspectors the imminent health hazard had been in effect for two and a half days at both Grill City and Noodle Street due to a faulty water heater. But that wasn't the only violation.
Veggie lumpia, sesame balls, crispy pata, chicharronnes and crispy shrimp had all been out at room temperature for more than four hours and had to be thrown out.
Diced tomatoes, chicken and shrimp were being held in the temperature danger zone.
Kitchen wares were being washed in dirty solution with no soap.
Multiple containers and utensils in clean storage had dried food debris on them and utensils at the bottom of clean storage were sitting in soiled standing water.
There were burn spots on numerous plastic containers and heavily soiled walls and wet floors in the dish area.
Grill City at Seafood City was back to a six-demerit A grade two days later.
Staff at the market said they were not authorized to speak to the media. A message left at the corporate office was not returned.
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Max's Cuisine of the Philippines on Flamingo and Maryland is a Dirty Dining repeat offender. This time, the restaurant's prep kitchen was shut down December 17 due to no hot water. Despite that imminent health hazard, inspectors found the restaurant doing heavy active food prep. The manager was aware of the hot water concern and the owner said hot water repairs were scheduled for the morning, but were not completed.
Inspectors also found multiple open containers of food stored on the floor--including marinating chicken and noodles--and multiple open containers of cooked food stored uncovered.
Max's was back to a zero-demerit A grade two days later. The owner said they were busy that day and thought it was okay to keep working as repairs were in progress. She takes responsibility and says it was her fault for not realizing the need to self-close.
Bombay Indian Cuisine inspection report
Max's Cuisine of the Philippines inspection report
