Houston Restaurant Violations For May 22-30: Rodent Droppings

HOUSTON, TX — Cooking for a lot of people is no easy task, and sometimes things go wrong. Shortcuts are taken, food is left out too long, workers neglect to wash their hands, or equipment is not maintained properly. All of those things, and more, can result in illness and disease, which is why the Houston health inspectors make the rounds to the area's thousands of restaurants and food trucks on a regular basis, making sure things are being done properly.

Many times, restaurants do the right thing, but sometimes that's not the case, and it pays to know who's messing up. Here's a look at some Houston Restaurant Violations for May 22-30, as compiled by our friends at the Houston Chronicle.

Let's begin with a fairly egregious violation: rodent droppings found on shelves and near a prep table. Yes, you don't want that. But that's what inspectors found at La Pupusa Loca, located at 7207 Hillcroft.

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Insects were the issue at Civil Cafe, at 201 Caroline St. The restaurant received 65 demerits after inspectors found a large number of gnats on the kitchen's ceiling.

Here's how the folks at the Chronicle explain the Houston restaurant violation demerit system:

During health inspections, inspectors distribute violations that carry a weight between 1 and 25, increasing in severity. The term "demerit" is used by city health inspectors to describe the weighted value assigned to each violation.

At Minute Maid Park, home of the Astros, 52 demerits were doled out for violations including a container of mayonnaise being left at room temperature at H Town Grill and a gnat issue at Home and Away (gnats must be in season, and you know they don't taste good).

The Shipley Donuts store at 13349 East Freeway was forced to discard some food when it was found unsafe for human consumption. Seems that it was left out at room temp for more than four hours.

Slime is never nice, and that's what inspectors found at Yank Sing Chinese Buffet, which is located at 2005 Magnum Rd. There was brown and yellow slime in and near the ice maker.

At Baek Do San Restaurant, at 10226 Hämmerle Blvd., inspectors observed a package of pork thawing in a bowl, which is against health regulations.

Did you miss earlier violations? Click here.

Have you had any bad experiences at Houston-area restaurants? Tell us about them in the comments section.

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