SAN ANTONIO – A restaurant that features servers in lingerie, a Korean restaurant near Fort Sam Houston and a busy San Antonio taqueria share one thing in common: All three recently failed health inspections.
Taqueria Guadalajara at 5818 Culebra failed their latest health inspection with 39 demerits. Thirty-one or more is a poor score, according to Metro Health.
Among the demerits at Taqueria Guadalajara:
- Kitchen staff food handling violations
- Employee hand washing violations
- The inspector watched a cook clean blood off a cutting board, then use the same towel to wipe down the table and continue preparing food (a cross-contamination hazard)
KSAT stopped by the restaurant on Monday to see if corrections had been made. The manager told Behind the Kitchen Door, "I don't have to show you. I don't want (KSAT) over here, OK?"
The manager said that Taqueria Guadalajara is still waiting for a follow-up inspection.
Milo's Restaurant at 4334 Culebra failed their most recent inspection with 36 demerits.
Among the problems at Milo's Restaurant:
- Food temperature concerns (prepared fajitas, barbacoa and queso not properly cooled for storage)
- Kitchen staff food handling violations (re-training required on proper procedures)
- Some previously prepared foods had expired (some were weeks old)
Milo's owner said she's used to visits by Metro Health because her all-female food servers wear lingerie. She claims inspectors are at her establishment weekly investigating complaints.
The owner produced a copy of their follow-up inspection report dated March 20. It indicates all corrections had been made.
As Behind the Kitchen Door was leaving Milo's, the owner stated that our arrival made her customers nervous. Indeed, almost half the dining room had cleared out during our visit.
Seoul Garden at 2456 Harry Wurzbach, near Ft. Sam Houston, failed their latest inspection with 32 demerits. The owner tells Behind the Kitchen Door he bought the building and opened in January.
Seoul Garden received demerits for things like:
- Their hand-washing sink was inaccessible and could not drain properly
- Their mop sink was being used as a storage area and had no faucet
- Soap and paper towels were not available for hand washing
- The kitchen, including equipment, shelves, prep tables and the inside of coolers, needed to be cleaned
The owner said that since their inspection, he's focused on fixing their plumbing problems. He says they'll spend this week addressing all other violations before the inspector returns.
Their follow-up inspection is scheduled for Friday.