Behind the Kitchen Door: Health department temporarily closed NW side Chinese takeout business

Quik Wok on Tezel Rd had no hot water, problem with insects

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio health department temporarily shut down a Northwest Side Chinese takeout restaurant in January for not having hot water, but that wasn’t the only violation cited by health inspectors last month.

Quik Wok

Quik Wok, located in the 7100 block of Tezel Road, earned an 85 on its January inspection.

The inspector found “live crawling insects and dead insects” throughout the business.

Food in the reach-in cooler was “stacked on top of other foods” without any protective barriers.

Their food permit expired, no food manager was onsite, and food handler certifications were expired.

A lack of hot water forced the inspector to temporarily close the business until the business could fix the issue.

KSAT Investigates reporter Tim Gerber stopped by the business this week to see if they had corrected the violations, but the employees weren’t talking. They went off to the back to hide and closed the kitchen door.

While waiting for the employees to return to the front of the store, Gerber noticed they hadn’t posted their most recent inspection. The report on display was from last June.

None of the employees returned to answer questions.

La Palapa K-Tracha

La Palapa K-Tracha in the 1300 block of Kirk Place earned an 80 and a re-inspection.

The inspector was greeted by an employee’s kids running around inside the restaurant. He then watched an employee use bare hands to grab lettuce.

There was no hot water at the hand sink, a cook wasn’t wearing a hair net, and other workers were wearing them incorrectly.

Dog food containers were being used to store human food. The inspector told them to stop using dog food containers to store food and remove them from the business.

Legal Eats

Legal Eats inside the Cadena Reeves Justice Center in the 300 block of Dolorosa earned an 86.

The inspector found “3 live roaches on a pipe” in the kitchen, and he found evidence of “rodent chewed plastic, debris, and droppings” in several areas.

The business was told to clean up the mess, hire pest control services, and monitor for further evidence of activity.

A tube of roach poison was found on a food storage shelf above the food prep area.

There were also two jugs of Ortho Home Defense spray in the establishment. The inspector reminded the business “any pest control products must be applied by a licensed pest applicator or must state on the label they are approved for use in food areas.”

There was no hot water at the hand sink in the kitchen, while another sink had no handles.

The vent hood was past due for a cleaning. A missing drip pan from the vent hood resulted in a 6-inch mound of grease piled up where it dripped, which was cleaned up during the inspection.

A re-inspection was ordered.


Score Guide:

  • 100-90 = A (Very Good to Acceptable)
  • 89-80 = B (Acceptable to Marginal)
  • 79 or lower = C (Marginal to Poor)
  • *Metro Health indicates that scores of 69 or lower are failing scores

Other scores from this week of inspections:

Bill Miller BBQ #15, 100

3511 Roosevelt Ave

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Classic Rock Coffee, 100

15614 Huebner Rd

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Fina’s Kitchen, 100

914 W Hildebrand

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Henry’s Puffy Taco Express, 100

3202 W Woodlawn Ave

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Bill Miller’s Laguna Madre Seafood Company, 100

18195 US 281 North

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7-Eleven, 99

10733 Huebner Rd

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Potranco Corner Store, 98

9410 Potranco Rd

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Babe’s Old Fashioned Foods, 97

10038 Potranco Rd

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Antojitos El Alamo Restaurant, 96

1900 Pleasanton Rd

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Mi Guadalajara, 95

1151 Culebra Rd

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Taco 16th Street, 93

5545 NW Loop 410

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Sushi Haya, 91

226 W Bitters Rd

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Pho & Chinese, 89

12311 Nacogdoches Rd

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Sonic Drive-In, 88

1435 Austin Hwy

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Los Angeles Tortilleria & Restaurant, 85

300 N Zarzamora


Want to know who has good scores and who doesn’t? KSAT 12 has a new tool for that.

Just click this link, and it will take you to a new mapping tool we have showing the recent scores for San Antonio food businesses.

The reports go back six months and are frequently updated.

You can catch Tim’s BKD reports Thursdays on the Nightbeat.

ALSO ON KSAT.COM

Watch other Behind the Kitchen Door stories here

Behind the Kitchen Door image. (KSAT)

About the Authors

Dale Keller is senior news photographer at KSAT-12.

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