Local code enforcement refuses to inspect restaurant.

mtngoat

mtngoat

Member
I was out on a job yesterday and after finishing up I decided to do some cold calling.
Stopped at a chinese restaurant(need I say more?)
Upon speaking with the owner he elated to me he felt the hood system was not in need of service.
OK I say to him. Today I have a conversation with the local Health Dept. concerning the crud in the hood over the cooking area
He passes the buck to the code enforcement guys. OK- I call them.
Upon telling them what I have seen in the restaurant they tell me they dont have time or money to inspect such a problem and that I should call the state capitol and tell them to send them some more money for such ventures.
Ok. So i call his superior and I recieved the same laxadasial attitude from him. He says hes being frank with me and that they
are recieving alot of calls on these places from my competitors.
Ok recieving alot of calls from my copetitors and myself But yet still refuses to inspect the premises. At this point I,m thinking to myself- Jeepers. If you have recieved so many calls on the same restaurants and you are still refuseing to inspect them?
So I elate to him that maybe there(code enforcement) not doing there job!
He goes on to tell me again that they are recieving alot of phone calls on the same restaurants. And they dont have time for this game. So I tell him the place in question has not been cleaned
in THREE YEARS! to the best of my knowledge. At wich point he says that they follow up on all calls that are placed to the office. After I tell him that he has been made aware of a fire hazard and he and his secondary are refusing to look at the reported problem.
Man! isnt that YOUR JOB?
Anyone else have a lazy or disconcerned/unprofessional code enforcement?
Ok Done Ranting now.

:D
 
Welcome to the real world. I have thought about carrying a stash of live cockroachs for just such an occasion - perhaps that might get their attention.

Richard
 
Just last week I had a Health Inspector inspect one of my customers and he wrote them up for ONE bad filter. In a V bank of twelve, six were ready to go and only one fell apart. Well instead of ordering six all he wants is one-regardless all he wants is one, since the inspection. In a week or so he will call me!!!!!
 
Makes ya wonder at roughly $100 to take the family of 4 out to dinner why they can not afford to keep up the place.....
 
Hey, take it easy on those restaurant owners. Do you know how much it costs to get a Mercedes detailed? They've got other things to take care of, you're just trying to make an extra buck.
 
Let the sumbich burn.
 
Russ Johnson said:
Let the sumbich burn.
Click to expand...


This was my point exactly. The restaurant is located in the middle of a city block. It goes up The whole block goes up!:eek:
Oh well. I did my part. If it goes up then TAG. The code enforcement is it.:p
 
It's funny.I was in the bar and restaurant supply business(I also owned two restaurants in NJ) and a guy would have a million dollar restaurant ,pull up in a new 500 sl mercedes and write you a post dated check(if you got a check!) for $400,and cry the blues how"things were slow".I think the better route to go with code enforcement,if the podunk local inspector can't be bothered ,is through the insurance company insuring them,and through the landlord of the building they are in or the management company managing the property.They have alot more to lose than some local fire inspector.I would talk to my local health inspector when they would inspect my restaurants,and the stories they would tell me about some chinese restaurants would curl your toes!!!Remember in China anything that moves gets thrown in the pot!They have fast food restaurants that serve fried rat!!!I actually sold one of my places to a fairly wealthy chinese guy,and when I explained to him that fresh chicken is basically good for three days before you throw it out,if you do not use it.He told me "oh no,my friend own chinese restaurant he tell me fresh chicken good for two weeks!If it start to smell ,you wash in bleach water,take away smell!" That is an exact quote,and yes I still eat chinese food!LoL
Jim
 
Jim,
We have a 'nice' Chinese restaurant locally which we used to patronize - until we did the cleaning. They actually place their chickens on the concrete floor next to a drain and leave them to thaw. They would tell you that germs will be killed in cooking, but I don't think they understand that pathogenic microorganisms are unaffected by heat. Recently I have developed a real distaste for oriental. I think this comes from American-Orientals only - I spent enough time in the Far East (a long time ago) to know there is a vast difference.
Richard
 
The Insurancs Company.

The insurance Company.
Ok this is my take on the insurance company as far as restaurants go.
They are making everyone change the Dry Chemical fire supression systems to the Wet chemical systems(UL 300)
wich is great if your in the fire system business.Not so great if your in the hood cleaning business. Why?- you say- Because alot of the owners of the restaurants have dumped alot of money into updateing the fire systems and are reluctant to spend anymore money.
Some people want it cleaned before the changeover occurs wich is fine. But not so fine when the company doing the changeover is including the cleaning in with the price of the new instalation.
If the insurance company would spend half the time and effort on making shure the places they insure have been cleaned properly they spend on making them change over then they would have less fires and more money in there pocket.
I belive they are going to start paying more attention to what is done where and at what frequencies. When it comes to cleaning.
Its to there benefit.The Insurance Company
 
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safeclean said:
,and yes I still eat chinese food!LoL
Jim
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I like chinese food but I never eat at those little strip mall chinese Restaurants.
I've been in too many of them and they are filthy.

Stick to PF Changs or Panda Inn.

I remember when I first started as a "greaser" and I worked for another company I was at this chinese restaurant in down town LA - Paul's Kitchen". Oops I let the name slip out..... I was working on the hood and there were at least 10 - 12 rats all over the dish washer counter area eating the food that was left on the plates. One even ran down that trough behind the woks that I was standing on.
The people just dumped all the plates there on the counters and left. didn't even scrape the food into the trash.
I was freaked out. Never wanted to go back there again.
What if i had fallen, and broke my leg. I could have been eaten alive.
 
Hope I dont end up with Sars/Eco-lie or whatever maybe lurking in these chinese hood systems.
 
RJTravel said:
Welcome to the real world. I have thought about carrying a stash of live cockroachs for just such an occasion - perhaps that might get their attention.

Richard
Click to expand...




Stash of cockroaches you say. Hell- we see plenty of live ones allready. lol :eek:
 
Richard
Having been in the back doors,and basements of hundreds of restaurants,I am surprised that I eat out at all anymore.I believe the chicken on the floor to thaw,especially at an oriental place.I have seen some use the back alley as a workplace,and leave raw food,pork marinating etc in stainless steel bowls lined up along the wall on the ground in the back alley,in the summer time.I can't only fault oriental places,I have seen things the average person would not believe,even in high end places.Once while in the kitchen of a very high end restaurant in NYC,on a friday afternoon,The fish delivery arrived and there was a big,probably 40lb mid section of a swordfish,packed in ice.There were huge worms crawling in and out of the flesh.The chef pointed them out to me,and said"see them,normally I would send that back,but it's friday night and I need it",I asked him what about the worms,and he said we pull the ones that we can see out with pliers and the rest will just "bake"out...Yummy!

MTNGOAT
My insurance policies when I owned restaurants specifically stated the fire suppresion and exhaust system had to be serviced bi-annually.My pizza place was in a busy business district,in a building with 8 other stores,and the management company(they were very strict) that owned the building kept track of when I had my hoods cleaned,and I would have to fax the KEC companies report to them.My store,when owned,by one of the previous owners burned the whole building down 11 years previous.I never knew the cause of the fire,but I had to have all my ducks in a row,and everything always up to date.

I think the insurance company,property management company angle is one for IKECA, and PWNA to work on,as I'm sure they are.
Jim
 
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