Houston Restaurant Warnings For June 6-13: Bean Issues

HOUSTON, TX — We've all been there. You're sitting in a restaurant waiting for your meal to arrive when your friend silently points to a roach crawling up the wall. It's not a giant roach, but still, it's a living one, and your appetite suddenly wanes. Your first thought: I wonder what the kitchen looks like?

Never fear, because Houston health inspectors are constantly on the move, visiting the area's thousands of restaurants and food trucks on a regular basis in an effort to ensure regulations and guidelines are being followed properly. Keeping up with their findings helps you stay on top of violations, and it could work wonders for your appetite.

Here's a look at some Houston Restaurant Violations for June 6-13, as compiled by our friends at the Houston Chronicle.

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This week, the buzzword os "beans." Yes, those humble but delicious things that are served in so many places. First off, 20 pounds of beans were condemned to die at Tampico Seafood (2115 Airline Dr.) because they were cooling at 61 degrees Fahrenheit instead of 41 degrees, the regulation temperature. The folks at Houston Bakery & Cafe (2435 Fulton St.) had the same problem and were forced to throw away 10 pounds of beans.

Next up — and you know that ice slime would not be overlooked — yes, a major case of ice slime. China Border Restaurant, which is located at 5460 North Freeway, had to get rid of 1,000 pounds of ice. Yes, that's half a ton. Inspectors found the slime, and out the ice went. The restaurant was also penalized for dead bugs/cockroaches inside light covers.

Here's how the folks at the Chronicle explain the Houston restaurant violation demerit system:

During health inspections, inspectors distribute violations that carry a weight between 1 and 25, increasing in severity. The term "demerit" is used by city health inspectors to describe the weighted value assigned to each violation.

Here are a few of the other violations for the week:

Cedars Bakery (8619 Richmond Ave.) was forced to discard beef, chicken, and cheese because of improper storage temperatures. Simply Greek (1900 Blalock Rd.) was penalized for using a home pesticide on its premises, which is against regulations. Jerusalem Halal Meats (3330 Hillcroft St.) was caught storing raw beef in plastic "thank you'' bags and large plastic garbage bags, a no-no.

You can see the complete list of this week's Houston Restaurant Violations here.

— Image: flickr/Daniel Lee