LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — There's no easy way to say this... Something stinks at Church’s Chicken on Rainbow Boulevard and Robindale Road. At least it did on June 9 when the restaurant was shut down for a sewage backup.
Inspectors were there to follow up on a complaint filed that morning. A customer reported, "The restaurant was filthy inside... There was trash and debris on the floors. The restroom had not been cleaned in a while."
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The complaint was validated and Church's was subsequently shut down when the inspector discovered foul-smelling wastewater backing up out of the floor sink under the ice machine, accumulating on the floor and seeping into the kitchen during active food preparation.
Employees were ordered to cease and desist all food prep as Church's was operating in the midst of an imminent health hazard.
General Manager James Mills said, "We had a bad drain from a recent flood from outside. We had that taken care of and we got right back open the next day."
Church's did reopen June 10 with a 3-demerit "A" grade.
Inspectors documented other violations including uncovered pans and containers of food on shelves, a repeat violation for black mold in the ice machine, excessive buildup of food, grease and trash on floors, equipment, and surfaces and a broken reach-in cooler door that fell on the floor when the inspector opened it to check the contents.
Church's got 20 demerits, which is one short of a "C" grade.
"We wouldn't have been closed down if it wasn't for that floor drain, but we took care of it," Mills said, adding that he doesn't tolerate the violations inspectors found. "At that time, we were trying to get everything right that day and that floor drain messed up and I was on my way in and we took care of it."
According to the health report, a plumber arrived at the end of the inspection.
"We gotta have that 'A' grade. All the time. We want to make everybody knows it's safe here and we're taking care of our customers," said Mills.
DIRTY DINING | Health inspection reports from Las Vegas restaurants
This Church's location has a couple of "C" grades in its past, but it's the first time the restaurant has been shut down.
"I've been in the business over 30 years and I was hurting. I was really hurt to my heart that we messed up like that, but we took care of it," Mills said.
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Repeat offender Kung Pao Wok is making its second appearance on Dirty Dining in just two weeks.
The restaurant at the outlet mall on Grand Central Parkway and Bonneville Avenue failed re-inspection on June 9 after being shut down for a multigenerational cockroach infestation.
Kung Pao Wok requested the re-inspection but when inspectors arrived, they found the kitchen was still dirty and greasy and the roach infestation was still in full swing, meaning it was still an imminent health hazard.
Inspectors counted 30 multigenerational roaches, most of them recently hatched, as well as live and dead adult roaches, roach feces and egg casings.
There were cockroaches under and inside ovens and wok fixtures, inside the deep fryer cabinet, under refrigerators and in sinks.
Heavy grease buildup described as “gelatinous and hardened over time” caked the cookline area.
Kung Pao Wok was required to provide proof from a professional cleaning service that they were doing what the Health District required in order to re-open, which they did on June 14 with a 3-demerit "A" grade.
The manager had no comment.
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We have a tie for the highest demerits between Island Pacific Seafood Market on Nellis Boulevard and Stewart Avenue and repeat offender Mara's Crazy Fruits on Owens Avenue and Pecos Road.
Both got 36-demerit "C" grades on inspections done on June 10 and 11.
At Island Pacific Seafood Market, six pans of pancit had to be thrown out due to unsafe temperatures as did a number of other foods being held in the temperature danger zone.
There were two containers of expired tofu - one dating back to May.
Knives with visible food debris were stored as clean on the magnetic rack.
And raw squid and approximately 200 fish were thawing in standing water at room temperature.
Inspectors wrote, "Due to consecutive C downgrades, intervention training is required."
This is the second Island Pacific Seafood location to be on Dirty Dining.
The location on Silverado Ranch Boulevard and Bermuda Road was on in November.
A corporate spokesperson sent the following statement:
"Island Pacific has served the Las Vegas community for many years and safe food handling has always been our highest priority. We recently opened a new location at the corner of Nellis and Stewart and the hot-deli department in that new location failed to meet our highest standard. We took immediate steps to retrain newly hired employees to make sure that the strictest standard of food handling is implemented immediately."
Repeat offender Mara’s Crazy Fruits was written up for handwashing violations, including an employee handling ready-to-eat cucumber with bare hands.
Tilapia for ceviche had no proof of parasite destruction so it had to be thrown out.
There were two packages of expired hot dogs dating back to late May and a large container of agua fresca in the sink next to dirty dishes.
Cookie cutters stored as clean, other equipment and the freezer floor were all dirty.
And inspectors say the place was in general disarray, not maintained in an orderly or organized fashion with excessive trash all around.
The owner did not respond to our call or text for comment.
Mara's was re-inspected June 16 and got a 6-demerit "A" grade.
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Centerplate Home Plate Stand at Cashman Field on Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue was shut down on June 11 for inadequate refrigeration.
Inspectors wrote up a repeat violation for malfunctioning hot and cold holding equipment, as well as unsafe food temperatures including cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, raw bacon-wrapped hot dogs, nacho cheese and packages of raw bacon.
All of that had to be tossed out and the facility was shut down.
It was re-inspected June 17 and received a zero-demerit "A" grade.
Centerplate sent the following statement:
"The health and safety of our guests is always our top priority. We are committed to excellence, and rigorously train our staff on proper techniques in food handling and food safety procedures. To this end, we partner with independent food safety experts and local health departments to ensure that our operations adhere to the most stringent food safety standards, evidenced by our hundreds of annual permits in the Las Vegas area alone that have never been downgraded. In this particular instance, the malfunctioning equipment was fixed in the presence of an inspector and the stand has been 100% cleared for safe operation with an A grade.”
Click here to see the complaint for Church's Chicken.
Click here to see the health report for Church's Chicken.
Click here to see the health report for Maras Crazy Fruits.
Click here to see the health report for Island Pacific Seafood Market - Food Service.
Click here to see the health report for Centerplate - Home Plate Stand.
Click here to see the health report for Kung Pao Wok.
