The latest Dirty Dining is a reminder that it'll hit home for all of us at some point. Roaches are the headline and the restaurant is a place our own Darcy Spears has dined herself.
The owner's son at Mt. Everest India's Cuisine knew who we were the second we walked in. In fact, he says after inspection day, they were expecting us.
"I wasn't here but when they were like, oh, we got a C, I was like, damn it, we probably will be there. I was telling my wife about it," Ishwor Mishra said.
Mt. Everest on Sahara Avenue and Valley View Boulevard narrowly avoided shutdown with a 39-demerit C grade. Mishra says, "This is like the first -- second time we got C so far."
Their first C was just a few months ago -- in May -- which is why they're required to attend a supervisory conference with the Health District for issues with non-compliance.
As for their current C grade?
"We had a few problems inside. There was a few handwashing problems."
Washing your hands for five seconds with no soap does not constitute proper sanitation. That's the first violation inspectors documented.
There was also parsley and fried vegetables uncovered in the walk-in, chicken thawing in standing water, baskets stacked directly on top of fried bread and no sanitizer in the sink where dishes were supposedly being sanitized.
"A little bit of here and there. I mean... So yeah... It was one of those days, you know?" Mishra said.
It was a bad day. There were roaches in the kitchen.
Inspectors found multiple, live roaches by the dish machine and a dead one near the sink.
There were also flies in the kitchen.
Baseboards were in disrepair, wet and with food debris -- creating very inviting conditions for creepy crawly pests.
"It was just the basic stuff, I mean, the roaches is a problem -- I understand -- but other than that it was just the basic problems," Mishra said.
Goat curry, tandoori chicken and many other foods were found in the temperature danger zone - -which is when bacteria starts to grow.
"We had a problem with that, of course, but we threw it away because they recommended to throw it away so we just threw it away," Mishra said.
Sauce was stored in an open, metal can. Cardboard -- which can't be cleaned -- was used to line shelving.
Speaking of stuff that can't be cleaned, they were also using milk crates as shelving throughout the walk-in freezer, where inspectors also found dirty containers and spill stains on the floor.
It was also recently a bad day at Karizma Lounge bar on Flamingo Road and Decatur Boulevard.
Inspectors shut the place down due to a multi-generational pest infestation. Live roaches crawled over food equipment -- on drain boards, the ice bin, floors, cabinets and splash guards.
Inspectors found a four-inch gap on the corner of the front door allowing pest entry directly into the bar.
There was also a lime stored in a dirty T-shirt bag with brown liquid, and scale build-up on the espresso machine's frother.
The other imminent health hazard came at Jerry's Nugget, where inspectors shut down the hot dog cart for operating without hot water. They also wrote up repeat handwashing violations and found pizza at unsafe temperatures.
Jerry's Nugget hot dog cart reopened with a zero-demerit A.
After a conference with the Health District, Mt. Everest voluntarily closed to make some major repairs. They should be re-inspected later this week.
Karizma Lounge's bar is still closed.
