Roaches, rats and flies: Worst Sacramento County restaurant inspections in July
Sacramento County inspectors shut down a local bakery, a Rite Aid drugstore and a number of restaurants in July due to a variety of food safety violations.
Reasons for the closures ranged from cockroaches, unsafe meat temperature and rodent droppings to leaky pipes and “excessive debris.”
In addition, dozens of local eateries received yellow placards in July for a variety of health code violations.
While a yellow placard signals two or more major violations, these are typically corrected or mitigated during the inspection, according to the Sacramento County Retail Food Inspection Guide.
A red placard, however, signals “imminent danger to public health and safety” and suspends the health permit until violations are corrected. This could include, but is not limited to, major vermin contamination.
In contrast, a green placard means a restaurant passed inspection.
The county performs about 14,000 inspections annually, with 97% of establishments passing, spokesman Ken Casparis previously told The Sacramento Bee.
Approximately 1% of inspections result in a closure, he said. The following restaurants received red placards in July, resulting in their temporary closures, according to The Sacramento Bee’s archives.
Sacramento bakery closed a second time for cockroaches
L’Avenue Hats and Bakery, 9645 Folsom Blvd. in Sacramento, had five major food safety violations on Tuesday, July 1.
After closing L’Avenue Hats and Bakery on June 10 due to cockroaches, Sacramento County health inspectors shut down the local bake shop a second time after finding more evidence of a roach infestation.
On July 1, health inspectors found three cockroaches, including one dead adult cockroach, on the floor below the dry storage rack near the dough preparation area.
There were approximately 15 to 20 live flies in the kitchen. The bakery didn’t have a food safety certification or California food handler cards on hand for inspectors to review.
These are repeat violations. The bakery had improperly propped open a back door. Meanwhile, the bakery’s oven had been modified and retrofitted with a water supply line and multiple spray nozzles.
L’Avenue Hat’s and Bakery was reinspected on Wednesday, July 2, and passed with green placard.
The Sacramento Bee reached out to L’Avenue Hat’s and Bakery for comment on Thursday, July 3, but bakery representatives were not available for comment.
Sacramento cafe closed due to unsafe food, lack of hot water
Bella Bru Cafe, 4680 Natomas Blvd., Suite 100, in Sacramento, had 10 major food safety violations on Thursday, July 10.
Sacramento County health inspectors immediately shut down the restaurant after discovering a lack of hot water at the compartment sink.
They also cited Bella Bru Cafe for having “potentially hazardous foods” outside of proper holding temperatures, including soft cheese, a hard-boiled egg, prepackaged pasta and chopped chicken, the July 10 report said.
The restaurant was improperly cooling beef pot roast in the walk-in cooler, and raw foods were improperly stored in the two-door freezer, per the report. A meat slicer hadn’t been properly cleaned.
Inspectors found “excessive debris” on a shelf at the front espresso beverage counter and coffee grounds in front of the counter.
There was excessive debris on floors under the front stacked oven, sticky liquid spilled under a two-door freezer and spilled liquid, debris and trash under the bar ice bin, according to the report.
Additionally, knives were “stored in a bucket of unclean sanitation solution,” inspectors found. The men’s restroom was missing a handwashing sign.
Bella Bru Cafe was reinspected on Friday, July 11, and passed with a green placard.
Kristen Freeland, manager of Bella Bru Cafe, told The Sacramento Bee that the restaurant had noticed a problem with the hot water the morning of the inspection and was waiting for a plumber to arrive with a necessary part when health inspectors arrived.
Freeland said the problem was fixed and the restaurant was up and running by the next morning.
Sacramento Rite Aid closed due to rodent droppings
Rite Aid, 9133 Kiefer Blvd. in Sacramento, had three major health food violations on Wednesday, July 9.
Health inspectors shut down the drugstore after finding packages of Blow Pop candy and elote trail mix on a retail shelf with “rodent gnaw marks.”
Additionally, health inspectors found 20 to 30 rodent droppings in a cabinet beneath the warewash and hand sinks at the ice cream bar.
There were four rodent droppings on a “food storage shelf behind the cereal boxes,” and 30 to 40 rodent droppings on the floor of a sales aisle. Inspectors also discovered one rodent dropping on a shelf next to the three-ring binders.
There were 15 to 20 rodent droppings on the floor near the floor sink at the east side of the warehouse and 20 to 30 rodent droppings on the floor near the electrical panels in the warehouse, according to the report.
Finally, inspectors found 10 to 20 rodent droppings on the floor below the access ladder in the warehouse. Health inspectors found large holes or gaps in several areas, including the wall at the east end of the warehouse, the wall left of the janitorial sink and the ceiling above the warehouse.
Rite Aid was reinspected on July 22 and passed with a green placard. The Sacramento Bee reached out to store representatives for comment, but no one was available.
Indian fusion restaurant closed due to cockroaches
Darbar Halal Restaurant, 3022 Stockton Blvd., Suite 1, in Sacramento, had four food safety violations during a reinspection on Monday, July 21.
Sacramento County health inspectors originally shut down the Indian-Afghanistan fusion restaurant on Friday, July 18, due to 17 food safety violations ranging from a live cockroach and leaky pipes to mislabled containers and improperly cooled foods.
Inspectors closed Darbar Halal Restaurant a second time after seeing nine “live and active” German cockroach nymphs under the dishwasher and on the preparation sink floor, walls, and chemical bottles.
The restaurant was improperly cooling three containers holding approximately five pounds of goat, 10 pounds of chicken and five pounds of cooked rice.
Inspectors measured the meat and rice at unsafe temperatures, making it “unfit for human consumption.”
Employees threw away the foods in garbage bags. Chicken breast also measured outside of the temperature range considered safe, inspectors said.
The restaurant’s dish machine was not producing enough chlorine. This was later “corrected during inspection,” the report said.
The Sacramento Bee reached out to Darbar Halal Restaurant for comment, but was unable to reach anyone.
Darbar Halal Restaurant was reinspected on Friday, July 25 and passed with a green placard.
Sacramento catering company closed by health inspectors
Sydney Catering, 8531 Thys Court in Sacramento, had a major health code violation on Friday, July 25.
Sacramento County health inspectors shut down the catering company due to “no water supply,” the county Environmental Management Department said on its website.
Sydney Catering reopened on Monday, July 28, the county said.
This story was originally published August 12, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
