Joey’s Kitchen approved to reopen, pest control required

The state Department of Health has approved Joey’s Kitchen in Kaanapali to reopen after Whaler’s Village arranged for pest control for the entire food court.

Joey’s Kitchen shut down Friday after the department discovered a severe roach infestation and immediately issued a red placard to the restaurant.

During the routine inspection, health inspectors observed roaches throughout the kitchen and back storage area. In one glue trap, 19 juvenile roaches were observed, with nine live juvenile roaches. Live and dead adult and juvenile roaches were also found in other areas of the kitchen, including in a cooking pot, under and on the cooking oil container, in the storage area on shelves and food containers and inside a paper towel dispenser. Inspectors also observed roach egg cases. All of the issues were indications of an active roach population, the department said.

Joey’s Kitchen was the second eatery in the Whaler’s Village food court to receive a red placard in less than a month. A routine health inspection of Nikki’s Pizza on Aug. 31 by the Health Department found an active roach infestation and other critical violations, including the signs of the presence of rodents in the kitchen.

Whaler’s Village contracted a pest control company to conduct a pest bomb treatment of the entire food court, according to a Health Department report on a follow-up inspection Tuesday. The department issued a green placard and allowed Joey’s Kitchen to reopen with certain stipulations: pest control treatment and monitoring must be conducted on a minimum weekly basis to ensure the pest population remains under control, and, depending on the results after a month, possibly move to biweekly pest control measures.

Joey’s Kitchen also was required to continue to clean areas underneath all kitchen equipment to remove any remaining food debris and grease accumulation, the department said.

Health inspection reports for food establishments are available for review at hi.health inspections.us/hawaii/#facility.