Wichita restaurant inspections: Cockroaches, weed killer, raw goat in t-shirt sacks
Several restaurants selling ethnic or American cuisine, Derby’s dinosaur park, a health-food grocery store, a Hispanic market and a downtown Wichita hotel failed their Kansas Department of Agriculture food safety inspections last week. Violations that led to them falling out of compliance include one restaurant having dozens of dead and living cockroaches lying around the kitchen, another storing weed killer under a food preparation table and a third that was keeping raw goat meat and chicken in plastic t-shirt style sacks instead of food-grade containers, a check of Sedgwick County inspection reports from May 2-8 shows.
Several businesses also were caught storing food in conditions that were too warm or too cool to be safe; harmful bacteria can grow rapidly when temperatures aren’t in the right ranges.
A list of the 12 local non-compliant businesses, compiled May 10, appears below with a summary of the problems inspectors noted on their reports. More information, including more-specific violation descriptions and survey dates, is posted in The Eagle’s searchable, non-compliant restaurant inspection database at www.kansas.com/databases.
More than 30 businesses surveyed last week passed their inspections with few or no violations. You can see those at www.foodsafety.kda.ks.gov/FoodSafety/Web/Inspection/PublicInspectionSearch.aspx.
Failing an inspection doesn’t necessarily mean a business has to close; that’s rare. Most violations are minor and are immediately corrected on site. Businesses fall out of compliance with state food-handling rules when they have too many violations or certain types of problems that may increase the risk of a customer contracting a food-borne illness, or when a problem can’t be fixed right away, like plumbing issues and pest infestations.
When a business fails, it’s usually inspected again within 10 days.
To complain about conditions anywhere that serves or sells food to the public, email kda.fsl@ks.gov or call 785-564-6767.
Recent out-of-compliance inspections:
Birrieria La Nieta de Villa, 2247 N. Broadway in Wichita — Three violations for storing salsa and tomatoes at unsafe temperatures, cheese and cooked meat at unsafe temperatures, no strips on site to test the concentration of sanitizer, chemical bottle stored above box of potatoes
China Go, 3700 N. Woodlawn Ste. 105 in Wichita — Seven violations for improper food storage, food including crab rangoon and chicken at unsafe temperatures, old chicken, chipped and cracked cooking equipment, dirty strainers
Cinnamon’s Deli, 209 S. West St. in Wichita — Four violations for storing potato salad and tomatoes at unsafe temperatures, dirty can opener, “no air gap or dual check valve with an intermediate vent supplied upstream from the carbonating device,” two bottles of Roundup weed killer stored under preparation table in kitchen
Dudley’s Sports Bar, 8550 E. 21st St. N. Ste. 500 in Wichita — Nine violations for employee not washing hands before preparing burger patties, meatballs and container of half-and-half not labeled with opening or preparation date, sauces stored at unsafe temperatures, jar of garlic not labeled with opening date, old taco meat, dirty food slicer, no hand-drying supplies at bar sink, tile missing in walk-in cooler, “large amount of debris” on kitchen hand-washing sink
Field Station: Dinosaurs, 2999 N. Rock Rd. in Derby — Three violations for not marking hot dogs with the date the package was opened, popcorn and grease residue inside popcorn machine and kettle, water didn’t get hot enough at sink
GreenAcres Market, 10555 W. 21st St. N. in Wichita — Four violations for having 17 blocks of cheese and 22 Evolve-brand meals stored at unsafe temperatures, no strips to test concentration of sanitizer on site, sink in deli has no hot water, chemical bottles stored over vitamin bottles, food and paper towels
Hilton Garden Inn Wichita Downtown, 401 E. Douglas Ave. in Wichita — Three violations for thawing salmon improperly, dirty equipment, no sanitizer in dishwashing machine
Los Cocos Mexican Restaurant, 1257 N. Rock Rd. in Derby — Three violations for employee touching ready-to-eat food with bare hands, food including chicken and pork at unsafe temperatures, refried beans and ground beef at unsafe temperatures, about a third of the hot food in the restaurant wasn’t within proper temperature ranges
Mi Mexico Lindo Market, 2652 N. Arkansas Ave. in Wichita — Ten violations for moldy sour cream, vegetables and tamales kept at unsafe temperatures, dairy products and meats at unsafe temperatures, cheesecake too warm, several items lacked ingredient and allergen labeling, contents not marked on some food packages, no labeling information on bulk bread for sale, gap under side door of storage area could be an entry point for pests, “approximately thirty mouse droppings in the closet near the back kitchen door. Droppings appear old and some are green”
New Paradise, 1648 S. Rock Rd. in Wichita — Fifteen violations for improper food storage including raw chicken being stored on top of sauce and raw eggs stored over cooked meat, food including chicken curry kept at unsafe temperatures, rice stored in a pet food container, raw goat and chicken meat stored in t-shirt-style “thank you” bags instead of food-safe containers, dirty pans, “heavy build up of food debris” in microwave, 3-inch gap under back kitchen door could let pests in, no hand-drying supplies at sink, restroom had no “washing required” sign posted, “build up of grease and food debris” on kitchen walls and under stove and fryer stations, unlabeled chemical bottles, hand soap stored in same container as clean food scoops, insecticide labeled for residential use only stored on site
Papa John’s Pizza, 220 W. Douglas Ave. Ste. 7272 in Wichita — Five violations for storing food, including chicken and tomatoes, at unsafe temperatures, not sanitizing pizza cutters often enough, unlabeled chemical bottles, chemicals stored over food on shelves, pizza sauce kept at room temperature was not marked with time it was set out
TJ’s Burger House, 1003 W. Douglas in Wichita — Three violations for storing a carton of raw eggs over an open box of jalapenos, “3 live adult cockroaches ... near the salad refrigerated prep table,” “adult cockroach ... under the table near the cook line,” “30-40 dead cockroaches in various life stages” stuck to glue traps around the kitchen
This story was originally published May 11, 2021 at 8:37 AM.
