Vancouver Restaurant Sanitation

[Vancouver]

Ok, so I had no idea that the food inspections reports for all restaurants in the city were available easily and quickly online. They make for an interesting read:

Vancouver/Richmond health safety reports

Certainly interesting to read up on how the restaurants we frequent do on the inspection process.

Cheers!

P.S. Also a great resource just to find addresses, phone numbers, etc. of every restaurant in town!

Edited to add P.S.

Edited March 29, 2005 by Vancouver (log)

[canucklehead]

It actually is a great resource. I stumbled on it a couple of months ago and I hoped that I would find some huge scandal... but unfortunately for my gossipy alter ego - there were'nt any.

Still - it is a fun read.

[Keith Talent]

Yeah, I've seen this before too, unfortunately it's not as fun as you expect it's going to be. I just returned from lunch at Prata-Man (good laksa, mediocre Tofu goring) anyway, while waiting for my order, I looked skyward. Big mistake. Do not, I repeat DO NOT ever look at the roof of Prata-Man. I'm pretty hardy, takes more than a stray hair to put me off a meal, I was close after obsering the lens of the flourescent lights on the drop t-bar celing. You know how at the end of summer you blow a light bulb outside your house, and you go to change it and the inside of the fixture is a moth mass grave, the moth version of Amnesty International brands you a psycho despot? Well that is the lens of the lights in Prata Man. Millions and millions of dead flies. And granted, dead flies are betrter than live, no doubt, but still.

I almost told the staff, but then again figured they would ignore me, and I'd have to confront the fact that my prefered laksa purveyor willfully accepts fly carcasses in the restaurant as opposed to selectively not noticing them. Yeah, I know, playing psychological games with yourself is odd.

[Dining Diva]

Yeah, I've seen this before too, unfortunately it's not as fun as you expect it's going to be. I just returned from lunch at Prata-Man (good laksa, mediocre Tofu goring) anyway, while waiting for my order, I looked skyward. Big mistake. Do not, I repeat DO NOT ever look at the roof of Prata-Man. I'm pretty hardy, takes more than a stray hair to put me off a meal, I was close after obsering the lens of the flourescent lights on the drop t-bar celing. You know how at the end of summer you blow a light bulb outside your house, and you go to change it and the inside of the fixture is a moth mass grave, the moth version of Amnesty International brands you a psycho despot? Well that is the lens of the lights in Prata Man. Millions and millions of dead flies. And granted, dead flies are betrter than live, no doubt, but still.

I almost told the staff, but then again figured they would ignore me, and I'd have to confront the fact that my prefered laksa purveyor willfully accepts fly carcasses in the restaurant as opposed to selectively not noticing them. Yeah, I know, playing psychological games with yourself is odd.

←

gross! that kind of thing hasn't happened to me in vancouver but when i was in malaysia at a hawker stand, i looked up and saw about a dozen little lizards on the sign above my head... some were fighting and threatening to drop down onto either me or into my meal! needless to say, i lost my appetite fairly quickly...

[Coop]

For me the worst cieling in Vancouver has to be at Hermitage. Old office style cieling tiles stained by...Gawd I hope it's water.

Edited March 30, 2005 by Coop (log)

[nwyles]

I monitor this site quite often. I am not sure how it is managed but I did see one restaurant with a scathing report with 23 violations and a closure threatened. It was disgusting to read. The next day I dialed in to see it again or see what had happened and now the restaurant was listed with 0 violations and no record of the previous report. I thought that the public deserved to know what condition that restaurant was in. What was listed there was more than a one day clean-up, and show a lack of concern about cleanliness and food safety. This is not the first time that I have seen this. I have seen it for a more high profile restaurant in my neighbourhood as well. What is up with that ?

[Vancouver]

How strange. The few restaurants I've seen with lots of issues seemed to have repeat visits a few days later with notes about what was corrected, and what wasn't. I guess it is political like everything else in the world, eh?

Cheers!

[nwyles]

How strange.  The few restaurants I've seen with lots of issues seemed to have repeat visits a few days later with notes about what was corrected, and what wasn't.  I guess it is political like everything else in the world, eh?

Cheers!

←

That is the normal procedure. It is just the restaurants with the huge lists of violations that end up getting the record cleaned up as well. I have not cruised the full list in a while but try and find one with more than ten violations ?

[Vancouver]

You are right. It seems many of the truly bad offenders are not on the list anymore. They have another list at: Food establishment closures which is also on their website. Perhaps once a food establishment has that many violations they get shifted over to that list? Many of the serious ones on there can't even be found in the database any more. Hm.....

[Stinky Cook]

I like to read that site also. There are many reports (i won't say who) not on the site anymore. However, some places always have a good report, and do a good job.

I like to search by date, and look at the most recent.

[Vancouver]

An interesting strategy when trying to find a place to eat (or NOT). The most recent data is the most relevant, eh?

Cheers!

[Feedbag]

Funny, I was planning to start a thread like this

a while back but got too busy. I was going to ask,

when you find your favorite joint on the list, do you

go back?

I don't. I was really bummed to find my fave Chinese

place cited for "rodent infestation". Don't you just love

the image? Anyway, I haven't been back, even though they've

apparently cleaned up. Can't shake the thought. Once a

violator, always a violator? Unfair, I know, but....

I also wondered why, with long lists of violations, some

places are open for biz within a day or two. shouldn't it

take longer to get a place that must surely have been in

pretty poor shape up to acceptable levels? I have images

of a heap of dead rats hidden in the closet when the inspector

comes back, like when your mom used to force you to

clean up your room.

In any event, I'm really glad for a service like this.

[dodger]

It isn't exactly a pile of rats in the back...but rodent 'infestation' carries a lot of weight(from the diners perspective)

It could be as simple a s rodent droppings found on the premises (not an unheard of occurrence) however, without a proper pest control program in place the establishment may be shut down until the health inspector is satisfied that a proram is in place before the store is allowed to re-open. An average turn-around on getting a pest control company out to your store, inspection of the premises and paperwork, probably account for the 1 - 2 day closure. That being said,

Edited April 1, 2005 by dodger (log)

[nwyles]

Funny, I was planning to start a thread like this

a while back but got too busy. I was going to ask,

when you find your favorite joint on the list, do you

go back?

I don't. I was really bummed to find my fave Chinese

place cited for "rodent infestation". Don't you just love

the image? Anyway, I haven't been back, even though they've

apparently cleaned up. Can't shake the thought. Once a

violator, always a violator? Unfair, I know, but....

I also wondered why, with long lists of violations, some

places are open for biz within a day or two. shouldn't it

take longer to get a place that must surely have been in

pretty poor shape up to acceptable levels? I have images

of a heap of dead rats hidden in the closet when the inspector

comes back, like when your mom used to force you to

clean up your room.

With the entire staff working at it and no money coming in the door for the owner or servers, motivation level is high and lots can be done in a very short time.

Have you been to L.A. with the ABC ratings on the doors - who is going to eat in a "C" restaurant, or a "B" for that matter. As an outsider looking in, it would appear that the marketplace might decide with their feet to pass on a less than clean restaurant. Seems like a good system to me.

[Vancouver]

This sounds like a great idea. I know I have seen it in a few cities around the world (but can't remember which ones off the top of my head - Singapore pops to mind as a strong possibility though). Restaurants post their newspaper reviews, why not the result of their health inspections?

Cheers!

[nwyles]

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=60583&hl=

Here is my attempt at a link from the L.A. forum on this topic. Lets see if it works.

Itnis the link to the main topic discussion but here is a link to the one I started yesteday

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=64772

Edited April 1, 2005 by nwyles (log)

[Vancouver]

Thanks for those links, Neil.

So what would it take for us to get this system started in Vancouver?!?!?!

Cheers!

[nwyles]

Thanks for those links, Neil.

So what would it take for us to get this system started in Vancouver?!?!?!

Cheers!

←

Major debate, all parties being involved in the process, all levels of government supporting it, a referendum, a plebicite, a petition drive, a leaflet campaign, some sort of scandal, and the mighty Hotel and Pub Assoc. supporting it as well as the BC restaurant Assoc. , a flock of swine doing loop de loops over the city and Lucifer buying a Zamboni for Hell's canal system's icing over.

[Vancouver]

Is that all?

You didn't even say we needed to get an Olympics for Vancouver. Oh wait....

[Keith Talent]

I spend a minimum four weeks a year in southern California, I don't think I've ever seen a B or C. I assure you, if I ever did, I'd stop the car so quick the passengers would get whiplash, especially if it was some form of SE Asian.

Lets all put A in the window and leave it at that. Some of the most disgusting Carl's Jr. in the world sport an A, these are places where you have to beat the samonella off with a stick while walking past the salad bar. (Realted, I'd think eating at a Crals Jr. salad bar and surviving would be a pretty damn effective innoculation against anything. "so, where are you going on holidays?" "Haiti, to sleep with hookers." "Be careful." "I don't need to, I've eaten at a Carls Jr. Salad bar.")

[BCinBC]

Have you been to L.A. with the ABC ratings on the doors - who is going to eat in a "C" restaurant,  or a "B" for that matter. As an outsider looking in, it would appear that the marketplace might decide with their feet to pass on a less than clean restaurant. Seems like a good system to me.

←

Neil, I've had the same thoughts when seeing those signs. Then again, I have also noticed that they are crazy for the "maximum occupancy" signs, which seem (to me) to be disregarded as required, though usually in bars. Makes me wonder what the ABC ratings are worth, if the occupancy regs are sometimes flexible.

[Feedbag]

Like Keith, I spend about four weeks a year in L.A.

(although not with him. At least, I don't think?) and have never

seen A,B,C signs on restaurant windows. What do they

mean? Apart from the obvious, I guess, what do you

have to do to get a C?

[kontemporary]

It actually is a great resource.  I stumbled on it a couple of months ago and I hoped that I would find some huge scandal...  but unfortunately for my gossipy alter ego - there were'nt any.

Still - it is a fun read.

←

Are you sure? You should check out Joe Fortes.

[Vancouver]

Or Memphis BBQ on Commercial. Or Lee's donuts on Granville Island.

[samasutra]

I was writing a message about another topic when I realized when I review a restaurant for someone, it is always important to me how clean a restaurant is.

If I go in and it seems the least bit dirty, I exit. I figure if its dirty in front, how dirty is it in the back. I thought this might be an interesting topic.

Before I did my career change...many zillion years ago....I was a humble cook. Not of the status of people in here. However, I had standards. My hair was always braided and piinned up and covered so hair could escape into a customers food.

I washed my hands constantly. My kitchen was immaculate. I kept my tools always clean and never cross used any utensils.

Today, I go into restaurants and I get really turned off by seeing servers with hair hanging all over their shoulders. I worry that one of those hairs is going to end up in my meal. I have found hair in my food...many times. I have seen servers with dirty nails. I guess I am aging myself but I really liked the old days of wearing the black and white outfits, sensible shoes and hair off the neck and tied back when dealing with the public. Also, I have been in restaurants when they run a carpet sweeper or God Forbid a vacumn when you are eating.

I have got food poisoning twice. Once from a wedding so you cannot count that time. Once from the BC ferries...smile so I guess you cannot count that as that does not count as cuisine. To this day, I have never eaten a cheese burger in a public establishment as my memories of that case of food poisoning still are in my memory bank. That was about thirty years ago. Long memory.

I am pretty careful to not order certain types of dishes from restaurants where I question their credentials so I have been pretty lucky about not getting sick. I think that comes from working once in a kitchen and knowing about all the things that can go wrong.

Surrey, now has a list online of restaurants that get reported for health infractions so you can check them out before you go out. I wonder how accurate they are.

I have travelled in other countries and eaten in restaurants where I have just closed my eyes and told myself a peck of dirt is good for you. Sometimes you just have no choice.

I like to think though at home , you have a choice. I like to think here in Vancouver we should aspire to the best.

Would be interested in other people use cleanliness and grooming of servers as criteria when choosing a good restaurant. Of course , it is not the only criteria but to me it is one variable to consider for a good dining experience.

Samasutra