On Dirty Dining Monday, a repeat offender -- a place that was previously shut down is back in the spotlight with the highest number of demerits.
The grades hang in full view at Sushi Mon on Maryland Parkway and Silverado Ranch Boulevard. But there's not an A among them.
The B is for the sushi bar. The restaurant has a 33-demerit C.
"And we just need to talk to the person in charge," Darcy Spears told the host, who heads to the back.
As we wait, the kitchen staff watches until a female employee comes out. She says no to the camera.
She backs away and brings out the chef, who hands Darcy his cell phone. On the other end, a new manager named Hiro who tells Darcy he's not making excuses for the violations and is working to fix everything.
Sushi Mon was cited for improper handwashing, food left uncovered and subject to contamination, and sanitizer buckets full of cloudy water, but no sanitizer.
"There was also food at unsafe temperatures," Darcy says. "There was meat stored over produce. They even said you guys were using the mop sink for food preparation. Why would anybody do that?"
Hiro blamed a lot of the issues on new employees who hadn't been fully trained.
We also asked about their dirty, rusty walls and shelves. He explains that the restaurant is 15 years old.
He says they are regularly cleaned, but got to a point where they were no longer fully cleanable.
Inspectors also found cutting boards were being wiped down with dirty wiping cloths. Prepared foods had no date labels to track their seven-day shelf life.
And there was mold in the ice machine. He says it hadn't been cleaned in about a week.
Hiro argues about the term mold, pointing out the Health District's actual wording on the report which reads, "microbial growth."
Lastly, we asked whether there was someone sick working in the kitchen. Inspectors found Airborne immune system booster sitting with the soy sauce.
Hiro says he's retraining the entire Sushi Mon staff and they won't call for re-inspection until everything in is A-plus shape.
Moving on to Taqueria El Buen Pastor. The Dirty Dining repeat offender was shut down due to multiple imminent health hazards.
Inside the food trailer at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue, employees couldn't wash their hands because the only available hand sink wasn't working.
There was also an issue with improper disposal of liquid waste. They admitted to draining their wastewater tank at least twice a day using a hose that goes right into a storm drain.
Plus, there was open el pastor meat stored outside, exposed, on the ground.
Taqueria El Buen Pastor re-opened with a zero demerit A.
Sushi Mon still has a C.
