Gnats, roaches: Kansas City area restaurants shut down temporarily for code violations

Several restaurants in the Kansas City metro recently shut down temporarily for health code violations. Some have been reinspected and have reopened but some are still closed.

The Kansas City Health Department cited these operations:

▪ BeerSauce Shop, 1219 W. 103rd St., had 11 critical violations during an Oct. 29 routine inspection. The barbecue restaurant portion of the business was temporarily closed.

The inspector observed gnats throughout the establishment; the employee did not have a Food Handler Card ( A certified food service operations manager must be present in the food service area and on duty at all times of business operation, and must present a food manager permit or card to the inspector at the time of the inspection); an employee had their food and a drink on the prep counter; no hand soap at the sink in the food prep area; and other violations.

“We had an equipment failure which should be fixed by Wednesday. So for now we are not serving food. We are primarily a retail shop,” said Rick Duree, regional manager.

▪ China Express, 200 N.E. Barry Road, temporarily closed after a Sept. 30 inspection following a complaint. The inspector observed “an excessive amount of dead roaches. Observed spiders, roaches, gnats, and flies throughout the establishment (Under prep and make table, under cook line, in dry storage area, under dishwasher, in kitchen area, and in entryway). Observed cobwebs throughout establishment (in corner of rooms, under dining tables, on ceiling).”

The restaurant is still closed and the manager declined to comment.

▪ Firehouse Subs, 8934 N.W. Skyview Ave., temporarily closed after an Oct. 1 inspection following a complaint when no hot water was available at the time of the inspection. It had no critical violations during an Oct. 4 follow-up inspection and was allowed to reopen.

A manager declined to comment.

▪ PH Coffee, 2200 Lexington Ave., was temporarily closed after an Oct. 2 routine inspection. The dishwasher did not have the required concentration of sanitizer. It was reinspected that same day, had no critical violations and was allowed to reopen.

“We had a 3-compartment sink but we upped our baking program so I brought in a dishwasher to speed up the process,” said Eric Rosell, co-owner. “It’s been a headache. It’s a leased dishwasher that has given us trouble since we had it. The dishwasher failed us.”

For complete Kansas City-area reports, visit www.inspectionsonline.us/foodsafety/mousakansascity/search.htm and search under the establishment’s name.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture cited these operations(direct links to the reports are not available):

▪ Tanner’s Bar & Grill, 14337 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, temporarily closed after an Oct. 20 inspection following a complaint. It did not cease operations and notify the department of the “imminent health hazard of no hot water available at all distribution points of establishment,” according to the report. A repairman arrived during the inspection.

It had no priority violations during an Oct. 21 reopening inspection.

“The shutdown was two minutes,” said Jim Fager, general manager.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture said the restaurant used FaceTime the evening of Oct. 20 to show the hot water had been restored. They were given the “verbal to reopen and the paperwork was completed the following day.”

▪ Zaxby’s, 12195 S. Strang Line Road, Olathe, temporarily shut down after a Sept. 30 inspection for an expired license. It did not cease operations and notify the department of the “imminent health hazard of no hot water at 100F available at any distribution point,” according to the report.

It had no priority violations during an Oct. 1 follow-up inspection and was allowed to reopen.

In a statement, a spokeswoman said: “Royal Chicken Ops Inc, franchisee of the Zaxby’s located at 12195 S. Strang Line Road, voluntarily closed their restaurant on October 1, 2021 because that day their hot water heater broke resulting in a failed health inspection. The water heater was replaced and the restaurant reopened on October 2.

For complete Kansas health inspections, visit http://agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/food-safety-lodging/inspection-results

This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 10:29 AM.