Question: Do you go back to a restaurant you know has been closed for some kind of Health Code violation? Newspapers across America publish a database of restaurants in their city/county that have been closed due to an infraction. They will tell you the date of the infraction, and when the problem was rectified. 

Recently a restaurant I have eaten at many times showed up on the weekly OC Register restaurant closure list. They were cited for several violations including improper holding temperatures of food, inadequate cleaning cloth sanitizer levels, unsanitary equipment, and improper thawing procedures. All fixable.

They weren’t closed for those reasons. Their main violation was a cockroach infestation and improper reheating temperatures/practices. So some additional training is given regarding reheating practices, but do you ever fix a cockroach infestation? It has been my opinion, that once you get to a point of “infestation” it’s pretty much a done deal.

Many would argue that every restaurant kitchen has roaches. I say no, that is not the truth. Improper cleaning practices leads to a dirty kitchen; dirty kitchens lead to vermin and roach infestations.

Shows like Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares has revealed some examples of kitchens that are in horrible states. He brings in a team of steam cleaners and professionals to come in and literally scrub down the kitchens before he let’s food out again. 

As for the restaurant in question, I have been in their kitchen and I have to say that I have had to look the other way – and shame on me for doing so. Now that they have shown up on the list, I cannot go back.

The following is a link to the Orange County Food Protection Program part of the Orange County Health Care Agency. 

They are the ones who monitor OC restaurants. Here you can look up any restaurant that has had a violation.

It is interesting to note that Orage County doesn’t have a restaurant rating system like Los Angeles County has. In LA, all restaurants are required to post their current license status prominently. I generally will not eat at “C” rated restaurants in LA County. What if Orange County had a rating system, how many restaurants would come out with an “A” rating?