Dirty Dining: Ellis Island

I wonder why the TV station zero'd in on EI and didn't go after any of the other places the health department has shut down recently.

From the Las Vegas Advisor:

"November 6, 2012 14:10 Health Department on a Rampage: The Southern Nevada Health Distric's Restaurant Inspector's are closing down casino restaurants left and right. First it was Sensi at Bellagio and Aquanox at Venetian, then last week we heard about the Cafe at Ellis Island and Scarpetta at Cosmo (all since reopened), and now today comes word that Julian Serrano at Aria and DJT at Trump International were closed by the Health Department for multiple demerits last week. Both restaurants are now open for business once more. The Southern Nevada Health District routinely shuts down restaurants that receive more than 40 demerits."

Oh the horror ! The Bellagio, Venetian and Cosmo all had shut downs and nobody seems too concerned.
But ewwwww ....Ellis Island. Mega thousands eat there every month and haven't heard about anyone gettin' sick or dying. And keep in mind ...this place is operating 24/7. It's not like 'some' places who can close and do some cleanup.
Relax people ... THIS is fairly normal. Don't get freaked out by the alarmists !

Spot on pearlguy! The island gets the beating despite the others.

The TV report is one of a weekly series they do - it's not just Ellis Island that is getting "picked on" - they file these reports on restaurants with Health Dept issues regularly. It just so happens that this week's story was on Ellis Island. And I stand by my original comment that there is NO EXCUSE for a filthy food prep area, no matter what restaurant it is, where it is located, or how many hours a day it operates. I worked in the food industry for many years. It was always drummed into us to keep your kitchen clean - wipe up after yourself while cooking, clean all work surfaces often, keep food in clean areas at proper temp, date & rotate supplies to use them up in timely manner, etc. Any professional chef will tell you this is just basic common sense. It's not "alarmist" - ask anyone who's had to deal with a case of food poisoning. I have, and I can tell you it's not pleasant. Those pictures speak volumes - that was not just a day or two's worth of grunge that hadn't been wiped off the walls, vents and other surfaces. However, it can be cleaned up with a few hours of real effort, which is obviously what they did after being closed down. The health dept made the right call, and hopefully the staff will keep up with proper procedures in future.
Here's a link for you for Vegas restaurant info - interesting info to see who the frequent offenders are:
Southern Nevada Health District Restaurant Inspections

Bottom line it seems is that EI got a "kick in the ass" to run a little tighter ship that's all, it won't affect whether I eat there or not in the future and actually will prob be one of the cleaner places to eat now that they've had there wrist slapped and will be watched more closely.

J

A little reality check is always a great thing for the public's health, the slap on the wrist is sometimes a needed thing. I am sure the city of LV has quite a time trying to check on so many places.
I will check out that link.

Does that Dept also include the Bars at the same establishment?
I have not had any lemon in my drink or water since there were issues with fruit wedges and contamination in NY and CT.

Just for clarification....the Ellis Island BBQ restaurant is new and received an A with NO demerits and was not closed....also they do inspect the Bars --- The EI Bar received an A with 4 demerits.

ELLIS ISLAND BREWERY BBQ
4178 Koval Ln
Las Vegas, NV 89109-4568
Last Inspection: 10/17/2012
Inspection Type: Routine Inspection
Inspection Grade: A
Number of Demerits: 0

HealthInspectionWebSite

Westie thanks for that video! Wow!

My Ellis Island coupons will be taken out of my MRB before my Thanksgiving trip. No more Ellis Island for me. The old saying "What you don't know won't hurt you" , but when I do know I won't go.