HOUSTON – Maybe you've heard that the best time to eat at a restaurant is just after the health inspector visits. The idea is that the owner will have cleaned up the place, but that theory doesn't hold up in this week's Restaurant Report Card.
Health inspectors said they found roaches inside a container of sliced onions at Taqueria Elyse's at 7675 Clarewood. Back in March, investigators said they saw a live roach on the wall at the front service counter. When Local 2 consumer investigator Amy Davis dropped in, employees agreed to show her around the kitchen. At the end of the tour, Davis spotted a roach crawling on the floor. An employee quickly stepped on it.
Inside the food court at Willowbrook Mall, inspectors said they saw roaches crawling inside Kelly's Cajun Grill. They were in the cabinets, on equipment and there was a dead roach in the ice bin.
There were more roaches at Top of Flight at 9819 South Kirkwood. At the panaderia (bakery) inside the Nortenita Meat Market at 10880 Bissonnet, there were roaches inside cardboard boxes, on storage racks and inside the metal shelf brackets on a wall in the kitchen.
On the southeast side at Pho Hai Van at 12730 Scarsdale, inspectors said they saw dead roaches and droppings on the surfaces of equipment in the kitchen.
At the Alabama Food Store at 2706 Alabama, inspectors said they found various food items on store shelves that were past expiration. The inspector recommended that employees discard the expired items he found, but there's nothing that legally requires stores to toss packaged food that is past the expiration date. The date is only a recommendation by the food manufacturer.
For this week's perfect inspection, you'll have to head up to Kingwood at 24551 Loop 494, where we're giving an A+ to Subway.
To see a complete list of restaurant violations in the Houston area, visit www.click2houston.com/restaurantinspections.How To File Restaurant ComplaintWe get our information from the city of Houston Health Department, but many of you have complaints about restaurants in other cities and counties.Refer to the following list to find out which agency to contact depending on the location of the restaurant:* For all complaints about restaurants located in the city of Houston, call 311 or file the complaint online.* Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services inspects and permits all retail food establishments in the unincorporated areas of Harris County as well as in the cities of Tomball, Katy, Jacinto City, Galena Park, La Porte, Morgan's Point, South Houston, Seabrook, El Lago, Southside Place, Hunter's Creek, Piney Point, Bunker Hill, Jersey Village, Spring Valley, Deer Park, Humble, Waller, and West University Place. If you believe you have become ill from ingesting food from an establishment in unincorporated Harris County or in a city inspected by Harris County, please file a complaint at http://www.hcphes.org/eph/foodcomplaint.ht or call them at 713-274-6300. If you are concerned about a food establishment's operations such as cleanliness, food handling procedures, etc., please file a complaint at http://www.hcphes.org/eph/complaints.htm.* To file a complaint about a restaurant in Montgomery County, call the Montgomery County Health Department at 936-539-7839.* To file a complaint about a restaurant Galveston County, call the Galveston County Health Department at 409-938-2300. Use this link to speed the process and file your complaint electronically, or send an email to mentringer@gchd.org.* To file a complaint about a restaurant in Brazoria County, contact the Brazoria County Health Department.* To file a complaint about a restaurant Fort Bend County, contact the Fort Bend County Health Department.* To file a complaint about a restaurant in Sugar Land use this link or contact the Senior Sanitarian at 281-275-2278 or email foodinspection@sugarlandtx.gov.If you have a news tip or question for KPRC Local 2 Investigates, drop them an e-mail or call their tipline at (713) 223-TIPS (8477). Copyright 2012 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
