LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Blood spatter is the type of thing you should only find at a crime scene, but in this week's Dirty Dining health inspectors found more than a splatter at a local seafood market.
Inspectors found a giant pool of blood on the floor of a walk-in cooler at Island Pacific Seafood Market on Silverado Ranch Boulevard and Bermuda Road.
The market's meat and seafood department got a 38-demerit "C" grade on its Oct. 27 inspection.
Three more demerits and it would've been shut down.
"What happened? Why the big pool of blood on the reach-in cooler floor?" 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears asked.
Manager Nathan Jimenez says he wasn't there and didn't see the pooled blood, but promised it's something inspectors won't see again as long as he's in charge.
"That shouldn't have happened," Jimenez said. "Of course, you can only do so much. All the employees work very hard. So, I just gave them a quick reminder, a pep talk."
One of the most important reminders was proper handwashing. Inspectors noted a repeat violation by multiple food handlers who failed to wash their hands when swapping gloves and changing tasks.
Inspectors also say the floor sink near the walk-in freezer was overflowing with wastewater on the floor.
The condenser in the freezer was leaking directly onto multiple boxes of uncovered meat and fish.
And open bags of food were stored on the freezer floor.
"Was it surprising to you that they found so much to write up?" Spears asked. "Because obviously, a C grade is a challenge to do business under."
"To be quite honest, yes, I was very surprised when I saw the inspection report," Jimenez said. "There were things that were very avoidable. But there were also things that came up as a surprise, which I mentioned is already corrected, and that's not part of our standard practices."
Island Pacific's meat and seafood department has never gotten a "C" grade before.
Jimenez says their issues were a combination of being really busy and employee oversight... when someone cleaning a band saw with a hose sprayed water onto uncovered raw tuna that had been left on the sink.
Although no one at the time could tell the inspector what was previously being cut with the band saw, Jimenez says the market uses a band saw to cut any meat that has a bone that cannot be cut with a standard knife.
Other violations included pink and black mold in the ice machine and significant dried black food residue on the meat grinder that was in use.
Meat packaging trays were splattered from food processing, and fish were thawing improperly and at an unsafe temperature.
"That was an unfortunate incident. It will never happen again," Jimenez said.
Island Pacific's meat and seafood department got its "A" grade back with zero demerits on Nov. 9
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This week's imminent health hazard closures begin at Soho. The Japanese restaurant on Jones Boulevard and Warm Springs Road was shut down Oct. 27 for a multi-generational cockroach infestation.
Inspectors found German roaches under sinks, under the dishwashing machine and under the sushi prep table.
Conditions invited pests that included excessive food debris on the floor and holes in walls and around pipes.
Inspectors saw roaches coming out of a hole in the wall next to the sushi prep table.
Soho's manager Dominic Pacubas says they got everything resolved the next day and that this was an anomaly for a restaurant with nothing but "A" grades for the past seven years.
Soho reopened Oct. 28 with a 6-demerit "A" grade.
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And for dessert... an imminent health hazard at It'Sugar at the Grand Bazaar Shops on the Strip.
The sweets shop was shut down on Oct. 27 for no hot water.
The person in charge told inspectors the water heater broke the week before, but corporate had not yet approved a replacement.
The health district forced It'Sugar to close and all candy packaged while the water heater was broken had to be thrown out.
The same location on Las Vegas Blvd.was on Dirty Dining over the summer after it was shut down for a rodent infestation.
It recovered from that and this latest issue too, reopening on Oct. 28 with an 8-demerit "A" grade.
13 Action News' most recent call for comment was not returned.
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And an imminent health hazard -- a sewage back-up -- was also reported at Antojitos D.C. on Pennwood Avenue and Valley View Boulevard.
It was shut down Oct. 28 after inspectors found the floor sink wasn’t draining properly when employees washed their hands, and sewage was overflowing into food prep and ware-washing areas.
Owner Carmen Najarro said someone took a sink part out and a strawberry got caught in the plumbing.
She knows now that overflow requires self-closure, adding that she is “always concerned for customer health, quality food and a clean establishment.”
Other violations included cabbage mix, beans and salsa that had to be thrown out due to unsafe temperatures. Najarro said the food was sitting out because it was going to be used.
Antojitos D.C. reopened Nov. 2 with an 8-demerit “A” grade.
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Click here to see the health report for Island Pacific Seafood Market - Meat-Seafood.
Click here to see the health report for Soho Japanese Restaurant.
Click here to see the health report for Antojitos D.C.
Click here to see the health report for It's Sugar at Grand Bazaar.
