A shopping center near UNLV seems to be a magnet for Dirty Dining.
University Gardens on South Maryland Parkway near Harmon Avenue is home to four restaurants we've featured on Dirty Dining.
The latest is Braddah's Island Style, which was shut down with 48 demerits and two imminent health hazards.
One of their other locations on Rainbow Boulevard and Sahara Avenue was on Dirty Dining over the summer.
On March 22, health inspectors found no hot water and a multi-generational cockroach infestation at the Maryland Parkway restaurant.
There were live roaches at the mop sink, behind the grill, under the 3-compartment sink, on the kitchen floor, in the men's restroom handsink, even inside the soap dispenser. There were also dead roaches on the floors of both restrooms, on grill knobs, the magnet board, under both soda machines and on the kitchen floor.
Inspectors say several areas of the kitchen were excessively dirty and inviting to pests.
The gap under the front door says, "Hey roaches! Come on in!"
And apparently, it's nothing new. There was a pest issue noted on Braddah's last inspection in July.
We went to Braddah's for answers and found the Southern Nevada Health District's bright pink closure sign was nowhere to be seen, but the restaurant had taped their own notice on the door and window, saying that they're closed for Spring Break doing some "much needed remodeling" and should be open on Monday.
Monday is the day we stopped by and there was nothing going on. The lights were off and there was nobody inside.
As for what else inspectors found -- a carton of buttermilk in use that had been expired for five days.
The grill was coated with a thick layer of carbon build-up. And there was a jumbled mess of raw meat and bean sprouts -- a textbook example of how not to store food.
Also, dirty dishware was stored in the same basin with thawing raw chicken. Dirty dicers and slicers were stored as clean. Clean utensils were stored in dirty containers. And kitchen equipment was excessively dirty.
We did get a call from Braddah's founder Chris Campbell, who left a voicemail message saying he fired their pest control company the day they were shut down. He said he feeds his family out of his restaurants every day and routinely visits the Maryland Parkway location.
He blamed the moisture by the mop sink on a problem with his landlord, but says it and all the other maintenance issues have been fixed.
We called back multiple times and left multiple messages requesting an on-camera interview, but none of those calls were returned.
Another imminent health hazard closure came about a mile away on Maryland Parkway.
Sakana restaurant and sushi bar were both shut down for having no hot water.
Also at the sushi bar, tuna and eel were at unsafe temperatures and there was a rag in the rice. In the restaurant, they were using a soiled chair as a prep table for raw fish.
And they also had a multi-generational cockroach infestation. Bugs were crawling on clean dishes and dry storage racks.
There were roach droppings under a food storage shelf. And dead roaches throughout the facility.
Sakana's sushi bar and restaurant re-opened with zero-demerit A grades.
Braddah's is still closed and according to the Health District, they have not scheduled their re-inspection yet.
After we notified the Health District that the closure sign was not posted, they sent staff out to re-post.
