Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: Food Safety

This week’s Cochino List includes IHOP

Posted on by Posted in Santa Ana 2 Comments

The OC Health Care Agency has released a list of the eateries (including restaurants, caterers and even school kitchens) that they inspected and shut down for the week of Jan. 17 to Jan. 25, 2019. Most of these eateries reopen pretty quickly after the health inspectors determine their issues have been resolved. Here is the list:

  • IHOP, 1001 E. 17th St., Santa Ana, Closed: Jan. 18, Reason: Insufficient hot water, Reopened: Jan. 18
  • The Cantina at Knott’s Berry Farm, 8039 Beach Blvd., Buena Park, Closed: Jan. 24, Reason: Rodent infestation, Reopened: Jan. 25
  • Taqueria Mocorito, 1076 N. State College Blvd., Anaheim, Closed: Jan. 23, Reason: Sewage overflow, Reopened: Jan. 23
  • Cafeteria at Kimberly-Clark, 2001 E. Orangethorpe Ave., Fullerton, Closed: Jan. 23, Reason: Cockroach infestation
  • Salvation Army Residence, 1300 S. Lewis St., Anaheim, Closed: Jan. 23, Reason: Cockroach infestation
  • Ralphs, 13321 Jamboree Road, Tustin, Closed: Jan. 23, Reason: Sewage overflow, Reopened: Jan. 23
  • Hong Kong Express, 225 E. Katella Ave., Orange, Closed: Jan. 23, Reason: Cockroach infestation, Reopened: Jan. 24
  • Nang Man Cafe, 1837 N. Euclid St., Fullerton, Closed: Jan. 23, Reason: Rodent infestation, Reopened: Jan. 25
  • Frida l’Art de la Crepe at Anaheim Marketplace, 1440 S. Anaheim Blvd., Suite I-21, Anaheim, Closed: Jan. 18, Reason: Rodent infestation, Reopened: Jan. 19
  • Rosetta Coffee Brewing Co., 30012 Crown Valley Parkway, Suite C, Laguna Niguel, Closed: Jan. 17, Reason: Sewage overflow, Reopened: Jan. 17
  • Carolina’s Italian Restaurant, 915 S. Harbor Blvd., Anaheim, Closed: Jan. 17, Reason: Cockroach infestation, Reopened: Jan. 18
  • Update: Buddy Chicken & Boba at The Outlets at Orange, 20 City Blvd., Suite F-3, Orange, closed Jan. 16 because of insufficient hot water, reopened Jan. 21.
  • Update: Top One Buffet & Grill at 104 W. Orangethorpe Ave., Fullerton, closed Jan. 15 because of a cockroach infestation, reopened Jan. 18.

This week’s Cochino List includes Dollar Tree and El Tapatio Dos Mexicanos Grill

Posted on by Posted in Disease, Food, Food & Health, Insects, OC Health Care, Public Safety, Restaurants, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The OC Health Care Agency has released a list of the eateries (including restaurants, caterers and even school kitchens) that they inspected and shut down for the week of Nov. 23 to Nov. 30, 2018. Most of these eateries reopen pretty quickly after the health inspectors determine their issues have been resolved. Here is the list:

  • Dollar Tree, 3309 S. Bristol St., Santa Ana, Closed: Nov. 28, Reason: Rodent infestation
  • El Tapatio Dos Mexicanos Grill, 1214 E. Pomona St., Santa Ana, Closed: Nov. 28, Reason: Cockroach infestation, Reopened: Nov. 29
  • Update: Kathy Market Agua at 700 E. First St., Suite B110, Santa Ana, closed Nov. 20 because of a rodent infestation, reopened Nov. 23

Continue reading→

The OC Health Care Agency presents a Food Safety Seminar for O.C. restaurants

Posted on by Posted in Food, Orange County, Public Safety, Santa Ana Leave a comment

OC Health Care Agency Presents Food Safety Seminar for Orange County Restaurants

(Santa Ana, CA) – The OC Health Care Agency (HCA), in partnership with Chairman Andrew Do and Supervisor Michelle Steel of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, will be hosting a Food Safety Seminar on October 10th in the City of Fountain Valley.

“We’re excited to help bring Orange County restaurant owners and managers together with representatives from HCA’s Environmental Health division to participate in this educational event,” said Chairman Do, who represents the First District including parts of the City of Fountain Valley. “This unique, in-person approach continues to strengthen ongoing dialogue between the County of Orange and our business community with the shared goal of protecting the health and well-being of dining patrons.” Continue reading→

More than 3,600 O.C. food establishments receive 2016 Awards of Excellence

Posted on by Posted in Food, Food & Health, Health and Medical, Orange County, Restaurants, Santa Ana Leave a comment

More Than 3,600 Orange County Food Establishments Receive Awards of Excellence

(Santa Ana) – The County of Orange Health Care Agency (HCA) has issued the 2016 Award of Excellence to 3,630 Orange County food facilities to recognize local businesses for their outstanding food safety and sanitation practices during 2015.

The annual Award of Excellence was created to provide an incentive for retail food businesses that consistently meet or exceed health and safety standards for food facility operations. In 1999, the first year of the program, 584 food establishments received the recognition. With increased outreach and improved compliance with food safety laws, the number of recipients has grown significantly since its inception. Continue reading→

A Playground for cucarachas?

Posted on by Posted in Food, Health and Medical, Jason Quinn, Restaurants, Santa Ana 13 Comments

I wrote about Downtown Santa Ana’s upscale hipster restaurant, The Playground, back in January of 2013. At the time their owner, former food truck chef Jason Quinn, was flaming customers on Yelp and his restaurant had been dinged by the Orange County Health Agency for all sorts of hygiene issues.

Well it has been a while since I last scrutinized The Playground but guess what?  Nothing has changed – they are still a mess and many of their patrons are still ripping them on Yelp. And Quinn is still flaming them in response.

Let’s take a look at The Playground’s most recent health inspection, on September 3, 2015. It did not go well. Here are the violations they were issued: Continue reading→

Santa Ana lawyer sues Applebees after a fingertip was found in a salad

Posted on by Posted in Courts, Food, Lawyers, Restaurants, Santa Ana Leave a comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Jess Block Nerren, jess@feltenmedia.com, 909-706-8525

Client of Eric Traut Sues Applebees After Finding Fingertip in Salad

SANTA ANA, CA – The disturbing trend of biological and anatomical items found in food at national chain restaurants has occurred again, this time with a bloody fingertip in a salad at Applebee’s Paso Robles found by a pregnant customer on December 20, 2015, represented by Eric Traut of Traut Firm in a claim filed with the restaurant chain. (Photo here)

“It was so gross,” says Cathleen Martin of Atascadero. “I’m on pins and needles worrying about what my family might have been exposed to,” saying she was particularly alarmed because she is expecting her first child in March. Martin, her husband, and young child had all eaten from the Chinese Chicken Salad before the bloody fingertip was seen. Continue reading→

DTSA’s 4th Street Market cochino eateries keep racking up health violations

Posted on by Posted in Disease, Food, Health and Medical, Public Safety, Santa Ana 48 Comments

The hipster 4th Street Market, an upscale food court in DTSA, recently announced that some of their tenants would be leaving and a few new ones are on the way.

However we took a look today at the recent health inspections, by the OC Environmental Health agency of the eateries at the 4th Street Market and the results are no bueno.

Take for example Wagyu Chuck, a burger joint that is the brainchild of Playground Chef Jason Quinn. The OC Weekly says that their burgers  “that taste a lot like In-N-Outs but with a denser bun.” But take a look at what happened when they were visited by the O.C. Health Agency on November 13, 2015: Continue reading→

The poor health record at the 4th Street Market is why we still need restaurant letter health grades

Posted on by Posted in Disease, Food, Health and Medical, Orange County, Politics, Public Safety, Restaurants, Santa Ana 19 Comments

Bloody burger at The Playground in DTSA

Bloody burger at The Playground in DTSA

Supervisors voted 4-1 this week against putting letter grades on restaurant windows, a method of alerting potential customers about the outcome of health inspections used in most of the Counties in Southern California, according to the O.C. Register.

Do we need letter health grades on our restaurants? Well just look at the recent health inspections of the hipster restaurants in Downtown Santa Ana, which just last night celebrated their latest “Savor” food tasting event (let’s hope no one got sick):

The Playground is supposed to be one of Orange County’s top restaurants. They have 4.5 stars on Yelp and charge $35 for a pork chop.  They are owned by former fast food truck operator Jason Quinn, who parlayed a TV appearance into a food empire. But look what happened when the Orange County Health Care Agency visited them on February 4, 2015: Continue reading→

New app displays O.C. restaurant health inspection records on your cell phone

Posted on by Posted in Food, Health and Medical, Orange County, Restaurants, Santa Ana Leave a comment

OC Restaurant Food Safety App

Orange County’s New Food Inspection App for iPhone and Android

By: Lisa Bartlett, O.C. Supervisor

The Orange County Health Care Agency developed an app to ensure County residents and visitors are informed about the food safety and sanitation at Orange County’s restaurants and markets. With the county’s new app it has never been easier to access information about the compliance of your favorite local restaurants.

To Download the Environmental Health Food Safety Program’s app to find restaurants near you, view inspection reports from local eateries, and see which facilities have closed, please click here for the iphone app and here for the Android app. Continue reading→

Say goodbye to The Crosby and hello to The North Left

Posted on by Posted in Food, Restaurants, Santa Ana 8 Comments

The North Left

The Crosby in downtown Santa Ana, which closed indefinitely earlier this year after a deadly beating outside the restaurant-nightclub, has reopened as The North Left, according to the O.C. Register.  They opened on June 7, 2014, according to their website.

There is a new chef at this new restaurant – Chef Ryan Adams of Three Seventy Common Kitchen+Drink in Laguna Beach.

I looked up the Orange County Health Care Agency’s record of health violations at Three Seventy Common Kitchen+Drink, and here is what I found: Continue reading→

The Crosby needs to answer for both public and food safety issues

Posted on by Posted in Bars, Crime, Restaurants, Santa Ana 24 Comments

Should you eat that?

Should you eat that?

Now that Kim Pham, the 23-year-old young woman who was brutally beaten up on Friday night while waiting outside The Crosby, a hipster bar/restaurant/nightclub in Downtown Santa Ana, has died from her injuries one can expect that everything about DTSA will be scrutinized by the press.  The same goes for The Crosby.

Bad enough that the police response to the beating was slow and security cameras appear to be nonexistent in DTSA.  But The Crosby, as it turns out, also has a not so great health record.  In fact their Health Permit was suspended in November!

Here is their entire record of violations, as issued by the Orange County Health Care Agency.  This is public information and unfortunately we live in a County where restaurants are not give letter grade health ratings.  So you have to click here to look up this info online. Continue reading→

Food safety still a problem at some popular Downtown Santa Ana restaurants

Posted on by Posted in Bars, Food, Health and Medical, Janet Nguyen, Public Safety, Restaurants, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana Food Safety

It has been a few months since I took a look at the food safety records of many of the most popular bars and restaurants in Downtown Santa Ana.  The news is not great.

Orange County’s Health Care Agency inspects our restaurants but they are not required to post letter grades, thanks to Supervisor Janet Nguyen who was the key vote against letter grades a few years ago.  She did not tell anyone at the time that her own husband and her then Chief of Staff owned a Lee’s Sandwiches in Stanton that at the time had a terrible health record.

So here is our updated rundown of O.C. Health Care Agency inspections of our local Downtown Santa Ana restaurants: Continue reading→

Updated Downtown Santa Ana restaurant health and sanitation violations

Posted on by Posted in Bars, Food, Health and Medical, Restaurants, Santa Ana 13 Comments

Grilled Cheese Spot

Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer has requested that the Health Care Agency update the issue of the public’s right to know about restaurant health and sanitation issues, which the Board of Supervisors last dealt with in 2008.  That was the year the Orange County Grand Jury recommended letter grade health ratings for restaurants.

The 2007-2008 Orange County Grand Jury concluded that the procedure for notifying the public in Orange County about the cleanliness and safety of neighborhood restaurants is almost non-existent.  They were right.  It still is.  Oh you can ask a restaurant for their inspection reports, but who does that?

So can you trust our restaurants?  Not the ones in Downtown Santa Ana!  Here are their latest health inspection reports – and major and minor health violations: Continue reading→

Time for the Supervisors to vote for letter grade restaurant health ratings?

Posted on by Posted in Food, Health and Medical, Janet Nguyen, Orange County, Politics, Public Safety, Safety, Santa Ana, Todd Spitzer 15 Comments

c grade restaurant.jpg

From the OC Politics Blog

UPDATE: Supervisor Todd Spitzer now says that he is going to ask the Supervisors to reconsider restaurant letter grade health ratings!  Thank you Supervisor Spitzer!

Despite a warning from the county grand jury, the Orange County Board of Supervisors declined, back in December of 2008, to impose a letter grading system designed to inform would-be diners about the health safety record of restaurants, according to the L.A. Times.

Supervisor Janet Nguyen cast the key vote against the letter grading system for restaurants.   I broke the news afterwards that O.C. Supervisor Janet Nguyen’s husband, Tom Bonikowski, owned a Lee’s Sandwiches franchise in Stanton that had been fined many times by the O.C. HCA.  She never reported that when she voted against the letter grade ratings – and it blew up in the press.  Bonikowski has since sold the restaurant. Continue reading→

SAUSD Trustees and administrators busted by State Senate audit

Posted on by Posted in california, Education, Food, Health and Medical, John Palacio, Politics, Public Safety, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 4 Comments

SAUSD poor performing schools

“Orange County’s largest school district has been ordered to repay $2.7 million that it illegally debited from its student meal program over the past five years, according to a sweeping state audit released Wednesday that examines misuse of money intended to feed impoverished children,” according to the O.C. Register.

That’s right.  The Santa Ana Unified School District has some explaining to do, including:

Continue reading→