LANSING, Mich. — Mold in a walk-in-cooler, a broken dishwasher, and piled up food scraps on the floor and walls, are just some of the many violations found at Reno's west side restaurant this month.
FOX 47 received a copy of that inspection report via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The Barry Eaton District Health Department said those violations weren't enough to shut down the restaurant.
The department blames a lack of managerial enforcement on cleaning. This stemmed from a complaint sent to the department after pictures of Reno's kitchen went viral on social media.
"Just to be honest, they were bad. And the restaurant recognized that they had let things go. They didn't deny it, said Greg Cabose, Barry-Eaton District Health Department Community Services Supervisor.
The Barry Eaton District Health Department received a tip earlier this month about a filthy kitchen. They responded within 24 hours and walked into "longstanding food debris, was the floors the walls, the sides of the equipment," said Cabose.
Inspectors said the manager wasn't doing a good enough job of making sure the kitchen was getting cleaned.
"As a food safety manager not only do you have the knowledge, you are supposed to then impart that knowledge to your employees," said Cabose.
The report cites several violations including a broken dishwasher that was not properly sanitizing, dried food on a meat slicer blade, and a large amount of food debris on the side of the equipment, floors, and ventilation system.
"The concern is when you let food debris build-up that then allows a food source for pests," said Cabose.
The restaurant was allowed to stay open because no pests were found.
The health department wants Reno's to get a second food safety employee certified so things don't get this out of control again.
"Yes, they have their manager who is certified. In our opinion they weren't spending the amount of time in the kitchen that they should've," said Cabose.
The department found no real concerns with the cooking and prep areas. News 10 went to Reno's West on Friday and the manager would not talk about the investigation.
The health department told us the owners are taking the violations seriously and have hired a cleaning company. The department will follow up next month, and their next routine check is in June.
There are some things that will get a restaurant shut down immediately. Those things include pest infestations, lack of water service for hand washing, sewer backups, or a food-borne illness outbreak.
In all those cases, the restaurant would need to closed for environmental cleaning.
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