Vietnamese Cuisine Restaurant is issued red placard, shut down

Business closed due to roaches, other health issues

The Vietnamese Cuisine Restaurant in Kihei has been shut down and issued a red placard for roach infestations in its kitchen and other food safety violations, the state Department of Health said Wednesday.

The restaurant has been ordered to correct the violations by today, when the Health Department will conduct a follow-up inspection.

A health inspector observed 20 to 30 live roaches in the restaurant, crawling on plates, bowls, plastic-wrapped containers, the dishwasher area and on food service countertops and other areas of the kitchen. Roaches also were found in cooked rice, flour and in vegetables in the prep chill refrigerator.

The inspector also observed a number of food borne illness risk factors that were immediately corrected by the restaurant, including lack of soap at a hand sink, inaccessibility to another hand wash sink used to store pans and other items, and raw beef stored in the same container as cooked beef in the prep chill unit.

The inspector noted other risks that the restaurant has to correct:

≤ Chemical sanitizer in the dishwasher was not at proper concentration.

≤ Cooked shrimp and chicken items stored in the walk-in refrigerator were not properly labeled to be discarded in seven days.

≤ A tub of condensate water, a potential food contaminant, was stored in a walk-in refrigerator above the broccoli and other items.

≤ Areas by the grill, dry storage and sinks had excessive food debris and grease.

≤ Facilities, particularly in the back of the kitchen area, had to be cleaned to reduce food debris.

Officials with the restaurant could not be reached by phone Wednesday.