Gnats, improper food storage: Latest Kansas City-area restaurant inspections
Improper food storage inside restaurants was the most found violation in recent health inspections by inspectors in Missouri and Kansas visiting Kansas City-area establishments.
Dining spots 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 June 28 to July 5. No restaurants from Wyandotte County met that threshold during the period.
Boulevard Grill
- 11832 NW Plaza Circle
- 8 critical violations found on a routine July 2 inspection
A swarm of gnats and flies were flying over the three-compartment sink and mop sink inside the kitchen area, and wire brush, food debris and a plastic cup were stored in the handwashing sink. A follow-up inspection July 8 found no violations.
Joy Wok Super Buffet and Hibachi
- 12631 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park
- 10 priority and priority foundation violations found during a June 30 routine inspection
The inspector observed an employee using the three-compartment sink at the bar to rinse his gloved hands and later began food preparations without changing gloves. The restaurant also had to discard food like roast beef, noodles, egg whites, rice and sausage after it was found to be improperly stored in the walk-in cooler.
Murphy’s Corner
- 12843 W. 87th St. Parkway, Lenexa
- 8 priority and priority foundation violations found during a July 1 routine inspection
A beef slab that was seared the day before the inspection had to be thrown out, as there were no markings that clearly indicated the beef needed additional cooking.
Thirteen additional items had to be discarded since they weren’t stored inside a display cooler at the required temperature of 41 degrees, such as pasta salad, carrot cake, a five-pound cottage cheese tub and 17 pounds of butter pats.
What Kansas City-area restaurants were suspended?
Four restaurants had their licenses suspended from the week of June 28 through July 5. Two restaurants, Añejo at 1006 Walnut St., and Dos De Oros Chicken Express at 650 E. Blue Ridge Blvd., were suspended due to inactivity because the restaurants are not officially open yet.
Two establishments, Safi Fresh and Haus 1512, share the same address at 1512 E. 18th St. Both had their licenses suspended for the same reason: a three-compartment sink backup following a July 2 inspection.
Neither restaurant responded to inquiries from The Star, but a follow-up inspection on July 6 found zero violations.
