Cockroach infestation closes popular Sacramento Thai restaurant. Inspectors also found feces
UPDATE: The restaurant passed its latest inspection and has reopened.
An East Sacramento restaurant, T.H.A.I. — The House of Authentic Ingredients, is closed until further notice after failing numerous health inspections over the past week for a cockroach infestation and other violations, according to Sacramento County inspection reports.
The re-inspection on Wednesday was one of five over the span of a week after failing a Sept. 13 inspection. The restaurant owners requested a reevaluation, then failed reinspections on Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday due to continued infestation, according to the county inspection reports.
The Thai restaurant is located at 4701 H St. and is a popular restaurant in the area. It has a four-star rating on review website Yelp with more than 500 user-written reviews.
Inspection report details
Multiple alive and dead German cockroaches were discovered at the restaurant on all inspection dates over the past week. According to the Sept. 13 report the insects were sighted around the sink area, on the wall and in the most recent inspection “between a stainless steel bracket shelf near a grease trap.”
The Saturday report stated inspectors found 10 dead German cockroaches on the floor of the bar. Then on Monday, the report said another seven live cockroaches were found: five were discovered behind the ice machine and two on the base of the rice station prep table.
Cockroach fecal matter has also been sighted. In the Friday inspection it was seen “on a plastic behind a clean dishes storage rack.”
Other violations included food not being stored at appropriate temperature levels, dishware not being sanitized appropriately and failure to protect food from contamination.
According to the Sept. 13 inspection report, “oversized colander containing cut green bell peppers were stored over a trash can in contact with garbage.’”
What happens now
A sign posted on T.H.A.I. — The House of Authentic Ingredients door Wednesday morning stated the restaurant was closed “due to maintenance.”
“We are trying our best,” said Ann Devahasdin, co-owner of T.H.A.I. — The House of Authentic Ingredients with her husband Suvijak Devahasdin. “If you come and see the facility itself its not like we are having a serious issue but coackroaches do happen sometimes.”
The restaurant’s operating permit is suspended, according to the Tuesday inspection, due to “continued evidence of active infestation.”
The restaurant owners are working to get everything back in order to assure this doesn’t happen again, Devahasdin said.
“We are aware of the problem, you know we will fix it, we will improve it and we will try our best to keep everything up to the standard so people are comfortable coming back to us,” Devahasdin said.
After Wednesday’s inspection the restaurant must remained closed due to the continued vermin infestation. It can open only upon re-inspection and approval from the Environmental Management Department, which recommended owners hire professional pest control.
This story was originally published September 20, 2023 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Cockroach infestation closes popular Sacramento Thai restaurant. Inspectors also found feces."