Wichita inspections: Roach on oven, ‘egregious’ warehouse, mice, bed bugs, old shrimp
Thirteen businesses — including several restaurants, hotels, a food warehouse, a bakery and a discount department store — failed their Kansas Department of Agriculture food and lodging safety inspections last week. They were cited for violations such as cockroach and mice infestations, trashy and cluttered conditions including one business that an inspector described as “egregious,” moldy produce worth an estimated $500, insects in a whiskey bottle, not having hot water at sinks and storing raw meat in plastic T-shirt sacks, a check of Sedgwick County’s non-compliant inspections Dec. 5-11 shows.
Information about the businesses and violations, compiled Dec. 12, appears below with a summary of the problems inspectors noted on their reports. More details, including specific violation descriptions and survey dates, are posted in The Eagle’s searchable database of non-compliant restaurant and hotel inspections at www.kansas.com/databases.
More than 50 businesses surveyed over the past few weeks 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 rules when they have too many violations or certain types of problems that can increase the risk of a customer contracting a food-borne illness, or when a problem can’t be fixed right away, such as plumbing issues and pest infestations.
When a business fails inspection, 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
Da Chicken Shak and More 2, 1112 W. 31st St. South in Wichita — Seven violations for not enough sanitizer on wiping cloths, flour and corn meal in containers that aren’t food grade, no ambient air thermometers in cold holding units, no probe thermometer on site, “build up of grease and flour on the side of the fryer,” no hot water in bathroom, greasy grime on kitchen wall. Next inspection: Dec. 18.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 10750 W. Hampton Lakes St. in Maize — One violation for not having a probe-style thermometer to test food temperatures. Next inspection: Dec. 17.
Juarez Bakery, 1068 N. Waco in Wichita — One violation for storing baked goods uncovered on shelves. Business is waiting on plexiglass. Next inspection: Feb. 9.
Mex Market Warehouse, 925 E. 19th St. in Wichita — Seven violations for trash and automotive parts around building, soda pallet piles could lead to pest infestation, no hand-drying supplies in bathroom, dirty dry storage areas, unlabeled chemical bottle, $500 worth of moldy produce, cilantro stored on cooler floor next to puddle of water, not refrigerating block of muenster cheese, dirty and “egregious conditions” in building. Next inspection: Dec. 18.
Old Chicago, 2240 N. Tyler, Ste. 100 in Wichita — Six violations for empty soap dispensers, employee touching ready-to-serve food with bare hands, food stored at wrong temperatures, unlabeled chemical bottles, peroxide bottle stored with nozzle pointed at pizza boxes. Next inspection: Dec. 19.
Passage to India, 6100 E. 21st St., Ste. 180 in Wichita — Five violations for not labeling foods with preparation dates, no equipment for checking strength of sanitizer, roaches in kitchen and crawling on oven, greasy and grimy conditions in kitchen, soap dispenser and air freshener stored on top of potatoes. Next inspection: Dec. 23.
Quality Inn, 4849 S. Laura in Wichita — Five violations for storing food at wrong temperatures, not labeling waffle batter with the time it was left out at room temperature, no probe food thermometer on site, no paper towels. Next inspection: Dec. 29.
River City Brewing Co., 150 N. Mosley in Wichita — Three violations for storing food including chicken pot pie filling and mac sauce at unsafe temperatures, old sauces and salsa. Next inspection: Feb. 5.
Ross Dress for Less, 8021 E. Kellogg Dr. in Wichita — One violation for water not getting hot enough at bathroom sinks. Next inspection: Feb. 1.
San Salvador Cafe, 5518 W. Central Ave. in Wichita — Six violations for storing raw meat and eggs over raw vegetables in cooler, rice and coleslaw stored at wrong temperatures, eggs stored at room temperature, sausage and pork skins aren’t labeled with preparation dates, raw chicken and raw beef stored in T-shirt bags. Next inspection: Dec. 16.
Sumo by Nambara, 11233 E. 13th St. in Wichita — Six violations for dead bugs in whiskey bottle, dairy not labeled with opening date, raw chicken stored above eggs, old shrimp, no soap or paper towels at sink, cockroaches. Next inspection: Dec. 20.
Trotbot, 1110 W. Harry in Wichita — One violation for “fifty small rodent droppings on the floor of the kitchen, especially under the bag-in-box area, around the handsink, and former ice machine area.” Next inspection: Feb. 9.
Wichita West Inn & Suites, 2405 N. Ridge Rd. in Wichita — One violation for bed bugs. Next inspection: Dec. 20.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 4:23 AM.
