Flies swarming, no soap or water: Latest Kansas City-area restaurant inspections
From improperly stored raw meats to dirty ice cream machines, 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, each 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 County that received seven or more critical or priority and priority foundation violations from May 31 to June 6. No Wyandotte County restaurants received seven or more critical or priority and priority foundation violations in this time frame.
The Lunch Box
- 1701 W. Ninth St.
- 7 critical violations for a June 1 routine inspection
An inspector observed flies swarming throughout the kitchen area, along with the West Bottoms deli not having any sanitizer buckets made for the kitchen area. Build up throughout the interior of ice machine was also noted in the inspection report.
A follow-up inspection on June 9 had no violations.
Iron Horse Bar
- 5241 W. 151st St., Leawood
- 12 priority and priority foundation violations for a June 4 routine inspection
In the walk-in cooler, one sealed package of raw beef was held directly on top of a sealed bag of raw chicken inside this Johnson County restaurant. The handwashing sink in the prep area also had no soap, paper towels or other ways to dry hands, or working water.
A follow-up inspection is scheduled for June 14.
Quesabrosa Paleteria & Antojitos Mexicanos
- 903 S. Parker St. Suite A, Olathe
- 10 priority and priority foundation violations for a June 3 expired license inspection
Rice pudding in the front display case was marked with a prep date of May 27, meaning it had been on display for seven days, and an employee was observed washing dishes with a bucket of soapy water that was used to dip a cloth sponge into and run over the dishes. The ice cream machine was found with food debris on the food contact surfaces of the interior mixing blades.
A follow-up inspection is scheduled for June 13.
Suspension
One Kansas City business had its license suspended as it looks to return in the next month after a blaze erupted in its HVAC system May 31, silencing its live jazz for the immediate future.
Green Lady Lounge, 1809 Grand Blvd., will likely be closed for a few more weeks because of the fire, said general manager Jen Wismeier. Firefighters were called to the jazz bar just after noon on May 31, according to the Kansas City Fire Department.
“They were able to get it out quickly,” Michael Hopkins, battalion chief with KCFD, said at the time. “Not a major fire, but enough to cause some damage to the roof.”
