Nearly 200 rodent droppings at Sacramento County restaurant. What else did inspectors find?

Sacramento County health inspectors closed a local restaurant after discovering nearly 200 rodent droppings, dirty floor sinks and fruit flies.

No local food-serving facilities received yellow placards in the past week due to health code violations.

A yellow placard signals two or more major violations, according to the Sacramento County Food Inspection Guide. These are typically corrected or mitigated during the inspection.

A red placard 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 the inspection.

The county conducts roughly 14,000 inspections a year, and 97% of all restaurants pass their inspections, spokesman Ken Casparis previously told The Sacramento Bee. About 1% of inspections result in a closure.

Health inspectors closed the meat department of a grocery store due to safety violations on July 26, but it was cleared to reopen a day later.

Here are the Sacramento County food facility inspections for Aug. 1 through Wednesday, as of 3 p.m. on Thursday:

If an inspection listed below needs clarification, business owners can email Sacramento Bee reporter Brianna Taylor at btaylor@sacbee.com. The Bee will publish weekly updates on health inspections across Sacramento County.

Sacramento County health inspectors close restaurant

Mimosa House, 5641 J St. in East Sacramento, had nine violations on Wednesday.

Sacramento County health inspectors shut down the restaurant after discovering nearly 200 rodent droppings, according to the report.

That included droppings on top of food cans, soda syrup boxes, a sack of potatoes and the lid of a tortilla chip container.

Inspectors found a total of 100 droppings inside the restaurant’s unused oven, the report said, as well as 80 droppings on the floor in the kitchen and liquor room.

Health inspectors discarded a container of brown sugar after finding gnaw marks on the lid.

There were rodent holes under the bar countertop and a total of 10 fruit flies at the waitress station at the time of inspection.

Meats, fruits, cheeses, pancake batter and cooked potatoes were all outside their proper holding temperature.

An employee was caught wiping their hands on a dry, multi-use towel after dipping bread into a raw egg mixture.

Floor sinks throughout the facility were dirty, and sanitizing towels and buckets did not have the proper solution at the time of inspection, the report stated.

Furthermore, the floor sinks under the automatic dishwashing machine and preparation sink had a slow drain, causing an overflow onto the floor.

Lastly, clutter and unused equipment were observed outside at the time of inspection.

Inspectors ordered the restaurant to call pest control, seal all openings, discard droppings and eliminate all dead and live rodents.

The restaurant was reinspected Thursday and received a green placard.

Mimosa House had not responded to a request for comment as of Thursday afternoon.

This story was originally published August 9, 2024 at 5:00 AM.