LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Usually, when something ends in a tie, both sides wish they had won. Not so when we're talking Dirty Dining.
This one's a real David and Goliath.
Our first high-demerit restaurant is a place we don't often see on Dirty Dining -- a McDonald's.
The McDonald's is inside the Plaza Hotel & Casino on Main Street near Ogden Avenue. Inspectors showed up to investigate a complaint that an employee used her teeth to open a sealed bottle for a customer.
When the health inspector went to check that out on Oct. 1, the person in charge said a food handler did use her mouth to open the lid for coffee mix, but the mix was subsequently thrown out and the employee was educated that teeth are not tools -- especially when you're using them on something someone else is going to consume.
The inspection that followed the complaint investigation left McDonald's with a 33-demerit C grade.
Violations include: improper hand-washing by multiple employees, a soiled citrus slicer and spatula and an insect zapper right above hamburger buns.
There was also an issue with food freshness, or the lack thereof.
You're only supposed to hold prepared food for sale for four hours. But they were doubling that at McDonald's.
Sausage and egg burritos prepared eight hours earlier were still in the display cooler and were deep in the temperature danger zone.
McDonald's wouldn't provide anyone to go on camera, but their corporate office sent a statement saying:
The health and safety of our customers and employees are top priorities, which includes operating a safe and clean restaurant. As soon as we received the report, we took immediate actions and addressed all issues.
The restaurant was back to a 3-demerit A grade on Oct. 7.
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The other 33-demerit C grade was at Vegas Express Sushi on Rainbow Boulevard and Robindale Road, where you can get sushi take-out inside an alkaline water store that also sells groceries and pre-paid phone cards.
Khin, the person in charge, said they do not make sushi but have it delivered each day by a caterer.
Vegas Express couldn't prove the parasites in their salmon had been destroyed so they were ordered to stop selling it.
There were also two expired containers of cream cheese in the fridge dating back to mid-September. Khin says they'd just bought the cream cheese a couple of days before the Oct. 1 inspection and that it was for her to eat, not customers.
The biggest issue was the sushi cooler holding food in the temperature danger zone. Khin disagreed with the inspector opening the cooler door and using a laser thermometer to gauge the degree.
Darcy Spears: It sounds like you don't think that was fair.
Khin: She is the inspector, right? So I won't complain.
Darcy: And did you have to throw away a bunch of food because of that?
Khin: Yes. She saw that I threw it all away.
We asked Khin to show us the cooler where they keep the sushi but she declined. She emphasized that they're not making any sushi on site and that Vegas Express got its A grade back on Oct. 15.
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If you've ever wondered whether those meal prep and delivery services get inspected.... They do. And sometimes they get shut down.
That happened with one of the trucks from Fit Meals 4 U, a custom meal prep and delivery service focused on healthy eating.
The truck was shut down Oct. 3 due to inadequate refrigeration after inspectors found them violating their permit by selling directly from their truck on the street.
Cooked chicken and turkey were in the temperature danger zone and the fridge was not properly functioning.
Plus they didn't have a vendor permit to operate as a food truck. Just a delivery service.
The owner of the company says he had been selling on the street for eight months with no problem and was surprised to find there was an issue with his permit when the inspector showed up at his truck stationed outside Eos Fitness near Durango Drive and Arby Avenue.
It was all quickly sorted out, the fridge passed re-inspection and the truck was back to a zero-demerit A grade on Oct. 8.
Click here to see the health report for McDonalds.
Click here to see the health report for Vegas Express Sushi.
