Cockroach originally uploaded by Jerry Wong
You may remember my coverage of South Metro restaurant inspections back in 2009 (#1, #2, #3). Well, today I received an e-mail from a St. Paul resident who was wondering how to get a hold of a restaurant inspection himself. Curious I asked him for what restaurant and why. Turns out Kim Huoy Chor Asian Cuisine on University in St. Paul sent out an e-mail to those customers who previously ordered online and asked for them to sign a petition to pass on to the City Council to help them remain in business after, as the petition mentioned, they, “have failed our health inspections,” after, “recently taking their eyes off the ball.” Sadly the owners of this restaurant not only lied to their previous patrons but also the City of St. Paul by failing to mention the most serious violations found…ones which would literally make anyone’s skin crawl.
Interested I e-mailed the Minnesota Department of Health who forwarded my request on to the City of St. Paul’s own health department which is licensed to do its own inspections. While I was unable to obtain the original inspection reports from St. Paul I did find find the 10/6/2010 City Council agenda packet which provided extremely detailed list of available background information (#41) including a summary of the 40 some inspections made since 2007 and detailed pictures of the most critical and disturbing violations such as this one from 10/15/2008 due to a report of a cockroach infestation:
Employees had captured some of the roaches and placed them in plastic condiment cups with names written on the sides, then displayed them on a shelf.
While this is just one example of many provided, it is part of a pattern of willful negligence on the part of the staff, management and ownership at Kim Huoy Chor which continued right up through the petition which, in part, claimed:
Nobody has ever been sick from our food.
Yet there were documented, yet unproven, cases of food borne illness within the background information which the owner of the restaurant attributed to recently fired and disgruntled ex-employees who he claimed, without proof, bragged of the report on their Facebook page.
Unfortunately due to the political oversight of their work, the Department of Health has to continue to let places like this remain open, even in states which may be extremely unhealthy for the public, until they have enough evidence to levy fines and eventually recommend license revocation. After three and a half years of inspections, numerous critical violations occurring during each and every visit, the largest fine ever brought down on a St. Paul restaurant in the history of the city, they were finally able to recommend that the restaurant be permanently closed.
At the St. Paul City Council meeting on October 6th, the Department of Health recommended, for the first time ever based solely on health code violations, that Kim Huoy Chor Asian Cuisine’s license be revoked and they not be permitted to reopen due to patrons becoming sick, the roaches, lack of proper cooling (sometimes 30 to 40 degrees warmer than permitted by law), the storing of wontons in a cardboard box originally used to ship raw chicken wings, and many other violations which you can read for yourselves. Unfortunately the majority of the four St. Paul City Councilmembers on hand played the political card and claimed they didn’t want to see a business close even if they were a public health hazard.
Some comments from the St. Paul City Councilmembers included:
Our function is not to shut businesses down. I’ve eaten there and enjoyed the food. I was asked if I would eat there again. There’s a whole lot of stuff which needs to be corrected. I hate ending, closing businesses. If the business would be willing to bring in an inspector at their expense, weekly, bi-weekly, etc. to ensure that the policies are being followed. Not to punish but to correct.
It’s clear the owner takes this seriously. He should have taken it seriously years ago. The department was patient, too patient. Our staff has made every accommodation to make this restaurant successful. I don’t know that they can be.
At the end of the day, even with City Staff highly recommending the restaurant close immediately and suggesting they had more than their fair share of chances since 2007, especially following the highest fine ever levied and the first time a restaurant was recommended for revocation based solely on health hazard concerns, the Council decided to table the discussion for a week and asked that staff again work with the restaurant to create a recommendation for an alternative plan which would include regular inspections at the restaurant’s expense, etc.
Overall I was completely and utterly shocked that the St. Paul City Councilmembers would ignore three and a half years of inspections, all with critical violations, and suggest that maybe they should get one more chance as pleaded for by the teary eyed owner who really should have learned his lesson in 2008 following the $825 fine. This restaurant needs to close and no more wasted staff time should be required by the council.
What do you think about Kim Huoy Chor Asian Cuisine’s repeated disregard for the safety of its patrons up to and including providing cockroaches found in the restaurant names, ignoring the largest fine every levied against a restaurant for health violations, and then purposefully misrepresenting the severity of the health code violations found to those they begged to sign a petition to keep them open? Do you think the City Council should have immediately revoked the licenses or is pushing it back for another week and having staff continue to work with the restaurant’s staff acceptable? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say.
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October 7th, 2010 at 8:05 am
ICK.
There are rules in place everywhere we look. They are made to be followed and adhered to. If you do not, you pay the consequences or fines.
While I do believe in same gray area and leniency in some areas, health and food prep just is not one of them. Having given myself food poisoning from chicken by contacting my pop can before washing my hands and then drinking, i DO NOT WANT FOOD POISONING AGAIN.
You can be sure, if I ate somewhere and become ill, there would be hell to pay and the health inspector would be called.
This is just one more case of some form of government sitting on their ass and being ‘nice’ and letting things slide. – I’ll remember that next time I need to pay taxes, or get a traffic violation..
The council needs to put it’s feelings aside, pull up it’s big boy pants and do the right thing, and that’s follow the process and shut down the place due to all of the above named violations. Sure it will hurt feelings, make someone cry or financially impact someone, however they know the rules and have had ample opportunities it sounds to clean up their ship, literally..
October 7th, 2010 at 8:07 am
I forgot to mention in the post above that (paraphrased from the meeting) the current matrix does not recommend revocation but because of the violations, frequency, seriousness, etc the health department recommends revocation.
So while the council could follow the matrix and keep the place open, the health department staff felt that it should still close.
October 7th, 2010 at 8:22 am
Yowza… we’ve gotten delivery from there SEVERAL times… obviously won’t be anymore! I didn’t click on any of the links, just in an effort to keep my breakfast from coming back up… ga-ross.
October 7th, 2010 at 8:51 am
I am concerned that the Health Department needs to kowtow to the City Council to enforce health code violations. The history of that location shows that the ownership is unable to understand their responsibilities in operating the facility. they may want to try, but it seems fairly obvious they are incapable. So how does the council feel that delaying a decision will help?
October 7th, 2010 at 8:58 am
At the request of the restaurant, the St. Paul City Council asked HD staff about “staying” the punishment and allowing them to reopen. If they were found to be in violation again the staff said it would still have to come back before the council for final revocation. Even the councilmembers were confused by that requirement. Staff said it was just how it works.
At the end of the day, Staff is there to support the political leaders in decision making. If it were always left up to the staff I think all cities would find that more money was spent and less was accomplished because ordinances would be enforced to the “T” and more staff would be required to do that level of enforcement (whether it be health, roads, or copying packets of paper in the office).
October 7th, 2010 at 9:00 am
“Nobody has ever been sick from our food.”
It is a fact that food-borne illness is often mistaken for being a “virus” or “the flu.” Also, a food-borne illness can take weeks, and even months, to make its presence known.
When we eat in somebody’s home, in a restaurant, heck, even from a demo cart, we do so in unspoken trust. We trust that whoever serves us food has done their best to keep contaminants from entering the food and to prepare it safely.
This is an abuse of that trust, both from the restaurant management and the City Council. Perhaps the present regulations prevent restaurant closure, but I suggest that the city knows full well the taxpayer believes his safety is a city concern. While I’m a strong supporter of small business, the safety of the individual precludes any revenue concerns of government. Also, I suggest that when we pay for a service, be it safe food in a restaurant or safety regulations in a government, and the service is not delivered, we deserve our money back.
October 7th, 2010 at 11:18 am
I’ve eaten at this place a couple of times since the new owners took over a few years ago. Both times I was unimpressed by the selection and the quality of the food. Had I known they had record-breaking cockroaches on display, I might have come back for the Premium Tour and Dinner package. Missed opportunities…
October 7th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
This is disgusting. I know businesses complain about anal inspectors nitpicking on things, but this is just insane. It’s pretty obvious that they have no regard for food safety or the health of their customers. I say shut them down!
October 7th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
And this is an example where the decisions should be in the hands of bureaucrats, not political appointees. Just as we would never put the safety of a child in the hands of a city council, we shouldn’t pu the safety of the general public in their hands either.
I also think we should look into the rating system that other states use. After your inspection you get an A-F rating. People can vote with their feet. People would quickly stop going to places like this place it the big F was displayed when they walked in.
October 7th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
I think at the very least the information should be made available to the public in a searchable format. When I asked for this back in 2009 I was told it was just too difficult and would require too much money. By posting the documents I hope I sent a clear message that I knew they were full of shit.
October 7th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
3.5. years?!?!?!?!?!?! What is the point of StP’s current health inspection process? Close the place already and quit putting the public at risk. What will it take? Some old guy or small kid keeling over from food poisoning? StP would definitely be sued.
October 7th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
I guess when I think about it, fine, the Council can say if they loose their business license. That said, the health department shouldn’t be letting the facility stay open if they witness issues that should result in a closure. The council has to do what it has to do and the health department has to do what it has to do.
October 7th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
One more example of elected city officials protecting local residents!?!?…. HA!! Hell, why don’t these “idiots” just close down their own Health Department.
October 7th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Nice. Looks like my last apartment. I bet the people who eat there regularly are healthier than those of us who sanitize everything. And, roaches make nice pets. Very intelligent for invertebrates.
October 7th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
I hate this picture.
October 7th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
LOL Sank!
My husband went through Officer’s Candidate School back in 1983, and when I went to join him at Ft. Benning, GA, I was armed for being an “officer’s wife” by my mom. I had the requisite formal, the cloth napkins, the right … everything.
At my first OCS wives’ luncheon, they talked about …. the cockroaches. And rightly so. In Georgia, the cockroaches make the ones up here look like ants with attitude. Also, they’ve developed a resistance to army sprays. I had a couple of big-dog milkbones sealed up in a baggie. The cockroaches ate THROUGH the bag and ate part of the milkbone. I actually saw one drag a roach motel on its back, like an RV.
Truth is, cockroaches would probably be fine, if they didn’t scurry through bacteria to GET to the edibles.
October 8th, 2010 at 1:40 am
[...] restaurant in St. Paul has, to put it bluntly, a repulsive record on food safety. It remains in business, despite the existence of health and safety [...]
October 8th, 2010 at 4:21 am
[...] looks into how the St. Paul City Council is handling reports of some pretty stomach-churning conditions over at Kim Huoy Chor Asian Cuisine (the Pioneer Press [...]
October 8th, 2010 at 11:14 am
I foresee a LL meet up! WOOT!
October 8th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Gross! hmmm. maybe the St Paul city council should be served lunch from Kim Huoy Chor. See how fast they close it down then.
October 8th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
I just about vomited reading this article. I used to work on Energy Park Drive, just off Lexington Parkway, and since we only had a 1/2 hour lunch, we would order from various places (usually on Fridays). This was one of our favorites places to order from! I don’t remember anyone getting sick, but GROSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
October 13th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
The facility was re-inspected and found lacking. The city council voted 7-0 to pull their license to operate.
http://www.twincities.com/ci_16321477?nclick_check=1
October 19th, 2010 at 10:47 am
I’ve clearly read too much about this, because the fact that that they named some of the roaches is hilarious to me. I think I was desensitized after the wontons in raw chicken boxes and the nose picking employees. Disgusting, but points for creativity.
November 18th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
MoA is no better: http://blogs.citypages.com/food/2010/11/mall_of_america_1.php
November 18th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Wow…good timing on that Bill. I was taking pics in Nickelodeon Universe in the MOA last night (about 5:00) and a mouse ran across the aisle about 10 feet from me. Those suckers have to be getting food from somewhere.
November 18th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
When will Americans come to recognize that meeting the basic requirements of government regulations is hardly something you want to be striving for. Why are we so unwilling, as a Nation, to strive for better than the government minimums?
November 18th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
1. Most restaurants don’t last a year.
2. Why bother concerning yourselves about violations when the inspections happen so infrequently and have only once, in St Paul at least, resulted in business closure?
3. The very purposeful omission of publicly accessible data so people can be informed and vote with their feet solving the problem before it
gets to the point where the politicans need to step in and kill the business.
If the St Paul incident and the MOA as well as the hundreds of oter restaurants that likely have similar issues aren’t evidence enough of a need for a visible rating system I don’t know what is.
June 17th, 2011 at 7:02 am
[...] the South Metro’s biggest dirty restaurant offenders back in 2009 and also discussed the most unsanitary restaurant ever in St. Paul in 2010, the fact that these violations continue and require lengthy data requests to receive them [...]