JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The latest inspection at Hibachi Grill and Supreme Buffet revealed three big problems: roaches, rodents and live flies.
Channel 4's Melanie Lawson talked with an employee who was there when the inspector came. She said the restaurant got the problem fixed but couldn't say how. She also said the owner had taken a trip to China.
In Jacksonville at the restaurant on Deer Lake Court, an inspector wrote she found dead roaches at the buffet, rodent droppings in a box of sugar and rice, and rodent rub marks on the ceiling and walls.
Channel 4 also checked online reviews and found people who said they've eaten at Hibachi Grill and found roaches in their food. A complaint is what sparked this latest inspection.
The inspector did go back the next day and apparently only found flies.
At Hardee's on Mayport Road, the general manager was not permitted to go on camera, but the restaurant also had a rodent problem. The inspector found droppings near a hole in the wall and a trap under a shelf. She also found raw burgers and ham in a broken cooler. The manager had to throw the meat away.
The general manager said the store just reopened after a remodeling last week. She said she told the inspector the problem with the cooler was because of a new employee who put the meat in the broken cooler and never had any intention on using it.
She also said their exterminator didn't alert them about the hole in the wall, and it's now patched up, so they no longer have a rodent problem.
The inspector did go back to Hardee's the next day, and it passed with 0 high priority violations.
The third restaurant was inside the CSX building downtown. The cafe was closed for the night because of dead and live roaches.
The cafe is only open for employees and guests, and it's back open now.