Broken sink, ‘black build up’: Latest Kansas City-area restaurant inspections
From expired pork to no hand soap, health inspectors in Missouri and Kansas found numerous violations at Kansas City-area restaurants last week.
Dining establishments like sit-down restaurants, drive-thrus, gas stations and grocery stores are required to get food inspections, and governments have to release those inspections to the public.
In Kansas City and Independence, the city’s health department enforces the food code while in Kansas, the state’s Department of Agriculture handles inspections. The lower the number of violations, the better.
Most restaurants correct violations at the time of the original inspection or shortly after. The full inspections show how each establishment has corrected or is working to correct any remaining violations. They are available for Kansas City at inspectionsonline.us/foodsafety/mousakansascity/search.htm and Johnson and Wyandotte counties at agriculture.ks.gov.
Here are the restaurants in Kansas City and Johnson and Wyandotte counties that received seven or more priority and priority foundation violations from Dec. 21 to 27, 2025. No restaurants in Independence met the threshold this week.
Taqueria Mexico #4
- 3300 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, Kansas
- 7 priority and priority foundation violations for a Dec. 23 routine inspection
There was no soap at a hand sink inside this Mexican restaurant off of Southwest Boulevard. An employee had to throw away macaroni and cheese, green beans and corn because these items were kept in a too-warm refrigerator overnight.
The restaurant did not need a follow-up inspection.
Read the full report for Taqueria Mexico #4 by searching for the restaurant on the Kansas inspection lookup.
La Patrona Tacos and Tequila
- 11240 W. 135th St., Overland Park
- 7 priority and priority foundation violations for a Dec. 23 routine inspection
Rice was stored in “Thank you” plastic bags in the fridge of this Mexican restaurant off of Quivira. The inspector found eight-day-old cooked pork and a broken hand-washing sink.
The results of the follow-up inspection have not yet been published.
Read the full report for La Patrona Tacos and Tequila by searching for the restaurant on the Kansas inspection lookup.
Joy Wok
- 8406 Wornall Road
- 7 critical violations for a Dec. 22 routine inspection
The inspector found “black build up” inside the ice machine at this Waldo Chinese buffet. Water pooled at the bottom of a cooler and built-up grease was stuck to the stove vent hoods.
The restaurant corrected all violations, according to a Dec. 29 follow-up inspection Read the full report for Joy Wok.
