BRADENTON, Fla. — A popular hibachi buffet in Bradenton is one of the latest restaurants shut down by state health inspectors due to high priority health code violations.
State records show Hibachi Grill Buffet was shut down Jan. 31 with 24 violations.
Among the issues, the health inspector reported finding food stored on the floor in a walk-in cooler, temperature violations on the fried fish, chicken and pasta, along with live roaches scampering around the dish machine, multiple wait stations, the paper towel dispenser and inside the soap dispenser.
The inspector also reported finding roach droppings near the hibachi grill area and roach eggs on top of the dish machine and at wait station.
“It’s tough to keep a place clean, but with that many roaches, that’s not just missing a few days of cleaning,” said Doug Cardente as he was walking outside the restaurant. “They’re obviously infested with them, so we’ll stay away.”
Health inspectors returned in the following days and reported finding even more roaches on top of the ice cream freezer and under the hibachi grill. They also reported roach excrement inside hibachi cabinets.
“I will never eat there,” said Erin O’Neill who says she only visited the restaurant once and then left because she didn’t feel comfortable eating there. Even she was surprised by the number of violations. “That’s gross!”
10News stopped in Thursday afternoon to check on conditions a week after the restaurant was cleared by the state to reopen.
An employee who identified himself as Jack Yang agreed to take us into the kitchen for a tour.
“No problem, we’re very clean here,” said Yang when asked if we’d be allowed to inspect the kitchen.
Yang first took us to the back where we opened up the reach-in cooler and spotted what appeared to be a large container of frozen shrimp, uncovered and stored on the floor.
We informed Yang that would be considered a health code violation, and he acknowledged it was a problem and would be corrected.
The restaurant had been written up for the same issue a week earlier.
Yang also walked us past one of the kitchen’s employee hand washing sinks where we saw soap, but no paper towels for employees to wash their hands. That would also be considered a repeat violation.
Then, almost as quickly as we were invited in, Yang started leading us out. “You’ve already seen everything,” he said after just a few minutes spent behind the kitchen door.
When asked about the restaurant’s cockroach issue, Yang told us the inspector had found a single roach as he pointed towards the top of the reach-in cooler. When we showed him a copy of the state inspection report documenting dozens of roaches, Yang indicated he didn’t understand English and couldn’t read the report or understand what we were saying.
On our way out, we did spot a dead cockroach in a cabinet, directly underneath the food on the buffet.
Yang scooped up the insect and threw it in the garbage, saying it's normal to find dead roaches after the building is treated.
Customers say the restaurant’s long list of repeat violations make them uneasy about eating inside.
“My friends go there, we all live here,” said O’Neill. “I’m going to tell them not to go.”
You can view Hibachi Grill Buffet’s full inspection history here.
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