UPDATE: Rodent droppings and dirty dishes didn't stop the Kajun Crab from passing its reinspection last week.
The popular Vietnamese Cajun joint passed with an 86 on Oct. 16. While it’s not quite the grade-A score they saw a year ago, it’s still an improvement from their previous score of 63.
While no live insects were seen, inspectors noted there were ‘several rodent droppings in multiple areas around the facility,” according to the report.
Inspectors also found dishes stored as clean that were “dirty to touch and sight.”
Read the full reinspection report here.
ORIGINAL STORY: "Several live roaches" and an unclean ice machine were found during a recent restaurant inspection at a popular Vietnamese Cajun restaurant in Chamblee.
The Kajun Crab on Buford Highway received a 63 during its inspection Wednesday by the DeKalb County health department. Anything below a 70 is considered failing.
Inspectors found the live roaches (and a dead one) inside the prep cooler and noted the ice machine had black and brown spots inside it. Other violations include an employee handling cooked shrimp with their bare hands and debris along the doors and gaskets of the prep cooler.
Raw meat was also found thawing at room temperature and raw beef, pork and shrimp wee seen thawing in the produce sink.
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Inspectors also noted there was no hand washing sign in the women and men’s restrooms.
Manager Mike Nguyen told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the restaurant is typically clean, but inspectors happened to catch them on a bad day.
Nguyen said the cooler where the bugs were found was an old one typically kept in storage, but claimed inspectors only found one insect.
“The one we use is broken, so we’re using (an older) one until it gets fixed,” he said. Parts for the broken cooler have been ordered and are expected to be repaired in the next few days, Nguyen said.
As for the ice machine, Nguyen said it’s also old and with the metal rusting they have to clean and scrub it. There are plans to replace it as well.
Nguyen also admitted to being the employee handling cooked fish with his bare hands.
Nguyen said he grabbed the food — after washing his hands — because he only needed two shrimp to bring to a customer; however, an inspector stopped him before he could give them to the patron.
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Aside from that, the food is “normally cook(ed) in batches and (they employees) don’t touch them with their bare hands,” he said.
Nguyen was adamant all his employees wear gloves when handling food and wanted to reassure customers they will improve.
“Our intent for the customers is to have safe and quality products,” he said. “We always strive to keep things clean and not contaminate (products).”
A follow up inspection will be conducted within the next 10 days. The restaurant scored 91 on its previous inspection on Dec. 19.
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