JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It looks familiar inside Sushi House at the St Johns Town Center because we walked in the same way just less than a year ago.
At first we didn't get any cooperation, but an employee ended up calling the manager so we could ask about the six high-priority violations state inspectors found last week. The manager declined an interview and said he didn't have anything to say about the failing inspection.
Sushi House was cited for a couple of roaches near a water heater, a rice cooker that wasn't properly sanitized, food not being kept at the right temperature, and raw food stored over ready to eat food.
A manager did talk with us last year after Sushi House had an overnight closure because of more than 100 dead and live roaches in the kitchen. Manager Peter Qui said then that the roaches came in on boxes and now they keep those boxes outside.
Roaches weren't the major problem in the most recent inspection, but these new ones are just as serious. The inspector came back two days later and passed Sushi House passed with just one critical violation -- a storage issue with raw beef stored over sushi in the refrigerator.