Wichita restaurant inspections: No running water, old beans & chicken, rotting peppers
A bar, a hotel, three Mexican restaurants and a pizza joint failed their Kansas Department of Agriculture food safety and lodging inspections last week. Their violations include not having running water, not warning customers in writing that it’s risky to eat under-cooked eggs and meat, having food that is too old to serve safely and dirty equipment, a check of Sedgwick County’s non-compliant inspections from May 23-29 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.
An inspector found moldy and rotting peppers at one restaurant.
A list of the six local non-compliant businesses, compiled June 1, appears below with a summary of the problems inspectors noted on their reports. More information, including specific violation descriptions and survey dates, is posted in The Eagle’s searchable, non-compliant restaurant and hotel inspection database at www.kansas.com/databases.
More than 40 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:
Connie’s Mexico Cafe, 2227 N. Broadway in Wichita — Eight violations for improper food storage including raw eggs stored over beer keg, enchiladas and pork meat kept at unsafe temperatures, rice and taco toppings kept at unsafe temperatures, tomatoes and tamales were not labeled with preparation dates, old chicken, restaurant doesn’t have a consumer advisory on menu warning of the risks of eating under-cooked eggs
El Oasis, 305 Madison Ave in Wichita — Two violations for not having running water at any sinks or any hot water anywhere on site
Hampton Inn Derby, 1701 Cambridge St. in Derby — One violation for pests in one room. An exterminator hadn’t been out to treat it for bed bugs yet
Jose Pepper’s, 2243 N. Tyler Rd. in Wichita — Six violations for employee not washing hands before handling clean dishes, chicken and onions kept at unsafe temperatures, sauces and cheeses at unsafe temperatures, old black beans, dirty meat slicer, restaurant didn’t keep food temperature records or logs showing when its thermometer was calibrated
Papa John’s Pizza, 3236 N. Rock Rd. Ste. 120 in Wichita — Five violations for leaving Alfredo sauce out of the refrigerator for too long, Canadian bacon and sausage labeled with incorrect preparation dates, cheese-stuffed crust dough not marked with preparation or discard times, hand-washing sink doesn’t work, pizza sauce not marked with the time it should be thrown out
The Rusty Nail, 1155 S. Washington in Wichita — Nine violations for moldy and decomposing peppers, improper food storage, par-cooked potatoes and chicken salad mix kept at unsafe temperatures, ham and cooked noodles were not labeled with opening or preparation dates, consumer advisory about risks of eating under-cooked hamburgers not posted, no equipment for testing strength of chlorine sanitizer, can opener “had an accumulation of dried food debris on the blade,” disinfectant bottle stored next to cups
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 4:07 AM.
