Restaurant inspections: Verified complaint of ‘cockroach in food,’ old meat in Wichita KS

Amy Renee Leiker
·8 min read

Eight restaurants, businesses and other establishments in the Wichita area were out of compliance during Kansas Department of Agriculture food safety and lodging inspections conducted March 12-18.

Information about the Sedgwick County businesses and their violations, compiled March 24, appears in an alphabetical list below with a summary of the problems inspectors noted on their reports. More details are posted in The Eagle’s searchable database of non-compliant restaurant and hotel inspections at www.kansas.com/databases.

More than 40 establishments passed their inspections with few or no violations that same week. Those also appear alphabetically below. Some may have appeared on a prior non-compliant list.

Business owners who want to clarify or comment on inspection results can contact Eagle reporter Amy Renee Leiker at 316-268-6644 or aleiker@wichitaeagle.com. Comments will be added to online stories.

How establishments fail

Most violations are minor and are corrected during an inspection.

Businesses fall out of compliance when they have too many violations, issues that can cause foodborne illnesses or when a problem can’t be fixed right away, such as pest infestations or broken plumbing.

It’s rare for a business or establishment to shut down over a failed inspection, but it can happen. Examples include when a place operates without water or power, doesn’t have refrigeration to keep food cold, has ongoing and untreated pest problems or has a sewage backup. Usually closures are temporary.

When a business fails, it’s usually inspected again within 10 days.

You can search food and lodging inspection results in any Kansas county at www.foodsafety.kda.ks.gov/FoodSafety/Web/Inspection/PublicInspectionSearch.aspx.

Out-of-compliance inspections

All American Dave’s, 1551 N. Rock Road in Wichita — Six violations during a March 14 inspection listed as a modified complaint. Cited for storing pan of cooked rice on top of another pan where it touched the food inside, package of thawed salmon was stored directly on top of raw beef in cooler, around 500 individually wrapped meals were stored without a preparation date label, old beef burger and rice and beef, old Alfredo chicken and hollandaise sauce, the facility wasn’t in compliance with its cold fill and shipping procedures, missing logs. Next inspection: March 24.

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, 11711 E. 13th St. in Wichita — Three violations during a March 13 inspection listed as a modified complaint. Cited after live and dead cockroaches were found near the dining area, clean sauce bottles still had labels and label residue on them, missing temperature control logs. The person in charge of the restaurant during the inspection told the inspector that cockroaches had been seen in the dining area and a “complaint regarding cockroach in food was verified,” according to the inspection report. Next inspection: March 23.

Crutch BBQ, 550 N. Rock Road in Wichita — Seven violations during a March 14 inspection prompted by a complaint. Cited over gallons of milk not labeled with opening dates, brisket was out of temperature for too long, sauce with butter sat at room temperature for too long, old liquid egg and crema sauce, old Caesar dressing and aioli, menus weren’t labeled with specific items that may be served undercooked, bottle of degreaser wasn’t labeled with contents, incomplete logs for chicken cooking process. Next inspection: March 24.

Economy Inn, 3150 S. Broadway in Wichita — Seventeen violations during a March 15 inspection prompted by a complaint. Cited for not having single-use gloves in laundry room, lot behind buildings where guests can walk dogs and grill “is full of sinks, old cars, trailers, mowers and general refuse,” dirty and cluttered laundry room, cleaning supplies stored haphazardly” in laundry room, property’s refuse container was “filled to the top” with trash bags visible, carbon monoxide detector in laundry room doesn’t work, no records for CO detector testing, no emergency management plan available for employees, no advisory posted indicating that pets are allowed with guests, no CO detector in maintenance room with gas hot water tank, no hot water at laundry room hand-washing sink due to leaking sink, no logs for smoke detector testing, dirty laundry on laundry room floor and on shelves designated for clean laundry, no smoke detector in maintenance room in north building, “trash, debris, (and) cigarette butts throughout the parking lot and property,” old and broken equipment stored in back lot of building for more than six months, “excessive amount” of animal feces on lawn and in landscaped areas. Next inspection: March 25.

Gambino’s Pizza, 408 N. Baltimore in Derby — Three violations during a March 13 routine inspection. Cited for not keeping refrigerated food including deli meats and produce and salad bar items such as potato salad and lettuce cold enough, no kit to measure strength of sanitizer in dishwashing machine, container of thawed pasta wasn’t labeled with date it was removed from freezer. Next inspection: March 23.

Marco’s Pizza, 521 W. Grand in Haysville — Three violations during a March 15 routine inspection. Cited for not labeling pizza sauce with the time is was removed from refrigeration, several refrigerated items including cheeses and sliced deli meats weren’t kept cold enough, old meatballs. Next inspection: March 25.

McDonald’s, 610 N. Rock Road in Derby — One violation during a March 15 routine inspection. Cited over missing part inside soda machine. Next inspection: March 25.

Ninza Sushi Bar, 8641 W. 13th St., Ste. 103 in Wichita — Nine violations during a March 15 inspection prompted by a complaint. Cited for thawing shrimp in standing water, raw chicken was stored above raw broccoli in cooler, raw tuna stored above cucumbers, no soap at hand-washing sink in dish area, soap stored above packages of shrimp, utensils and lids were stored in kitchen sinks designated for hand-washing only, unlabeled dish soap bottle, shrimp was sitting at room temperature at sushi counter, seafood items and California rolls weren’t kept cold enough, wrong package opening date on imitation crab meat. Next inspection: March 25.

How to complain about conditions

If you see problems at a food or lodging establishment, you can file a complaint.

To notify the state about unsavory or questionable conditions anywhere that serves or sells food to the public, email kda.fsl@ks.gov or call 785-564-6767. You can also file a report at www.foodsafetykansas.org.

To report an illness you think was caused by a restaurant, food or event, call the Kansas Department of Health and Environment at 877-427-7317 or file a report at www.foodsafetykansas.org.

Complaints about conditions at hotels and motels can be submitted at https://agriculture.ks.gov/kda-services/complaint-form/food-safety-and-lodging-complaint.

For more information about foodborne illnesses, visit www.foodsafety.gov.

These businesses passed inspections March 12-18

  • AFC Sushi (at Dillons), 9450 E. Harry in Wichita

  • AFC Sushi (at Dillons), 1624 N. Rock Road in Derby

  • American Legion Post #136, 410 S.E. Louis Blvd. in Mulvane

  • Auto Motel, 1230 N. Broadway in Wichita

  • California Tortilla, 2244 N. Greenwich, Ste. 100 in Wichita

  • Casey’s General Store, 103 W. Patriot Ave. in Derby

  • Casey’s General Store, 109 E. Plaza Lane in Mulvane

  • Central Standard Brewing, 156 S. Greenwood in Wichita

  • China Go, 3700 N. Woodlawn, Ste. 105 in Wichita

  • Church’s Chicken, 593 E. Pawnee in Wichita

  • Comfort Inn & Suites, 7856 E. 36th St. North in Wichita

  • Country Inn & Suites, 333 S. Webb in Wichita

  • Cousin Hector’s (mobile vendor/food truck), 2847 N. Woodland in Wichita

  • Emerson Biggins/Rock Island Live, 808 E. Douglas in Wichita

  • Fazoli’s, 3553 N. Rock Road in Wichita

  • The Getaway Lounge, 428 S. Main in Garden Plain

  • The Gilded Cookie, 1328 E. Douglas in Wichita

  • Himali Eats, 3238 E. Douglas in Wichita

  • Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 10750 W. Hampton Lakes St. in Maize

  • Hotel at Old Town, 830 E. First St. in Wichita

  • Jersey Mike’s Subs, 2564 N. Greenwich Road #550 in Wichita

  • Long John Silvers/A&W, 2616 N. Maize Road in Wichita

  • McDonald’s, 506 N. Tyler in Wichita

  • Meals on Wheels/Friendship Meals, 4808 W. Ninth St. in Wichita

  • Nourish ICT, 2516 E. Central in Wichita

  • O’Briens Irish Pub, 5205 E. Kellogg Dr., Ste. 107 in Wichita

  • Olive Tree Catering, 1530 S. Webb Road in Wichita

  • Panera Bread, 1605 N. Rock Road in Wichita

  • Peerless, 919 E. Douglas in Wichita

  • Quick Pick, 3733 N. Arkansas in Wichita

  • RibCrib BBQ & Grill, 500 S. Ridge in Wichita

  • Savor (concessions and bars at Century II), 225 W. Douglas in Wichita

  • Shamrock Lounge, 1724 W. Douglas in Wichita

  • Siena Tuscan Steakhouse, 104 S. Broadway in Wichita

  • Sonic Drive-In, 4747 S. Seneca in Wichita

  • Starbucks Coffee, 1600 S. Rock Road in Wichita

  • Tacos Irapuato (mobile vendor/food truck), 2953 N. Broadway in Wichita

  • Topgolf, 2976 N. Greenwich in Wichita

  • Walgreens, 710 N. West St. in Wichita

  • Walgreens, 333 W. 13th St. in Wichita

  • Wingstop, 2095 W. 21st St., Ste. 100 in Wichita