The Ru San’s on Piedmont Road, only a couple minutes away from Grady, was cited multiple times over the past four months by Fulton County health inspectors for a roach infestation. The restaurant was shut down on Aug. 5 by the Fulton County Department of Public Health.
“Commonly we can only shut a restaurant down if they have an imminent health hazard,” said Latanya Blake, one of more than 20 health inspectors in Fulton County. “Imminent health hazards are no water, no power, bug infestation, confirmed illness [or] communicable illness.”
Blake has had a lot of experience inspecting restaurants with unsavory environments.
“Once I was in a facility that had roaches so badly that [when] we left I asked my supervisor [if I] could go home and shower,” Blake said.
Ru San’s failed three out of its last five health inspections, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health website. Officials cited a “heavy roach infestation” as a reason for shutting down the sushi restaurant.
The Georgia Department of Public Health and the Fulton County Department of Health and Human Services regulate restaurants around Grady. The restaurants are ranked on a scale of one to three based on risk factors that determine how often the restaurant should be inspected by the county.
Each health inspector is assigned a territory. Fulton County inspectors attempt to inspect 17 facilities a week and 68 facilities a month. If a restaurant fails a health inspection, an inspector is required to complete a follow-up inspection within 10 days.
“A failing score is saying to the public that this facility is not operating in a safe manner,” Blake said. “We will never be able to come out and say do not eat there, but we post a score that indicates that the kitchen is or is not handling the food properly.”
All of the restaurants within a “block of Grady, besides Rita’s and Starbucks, have a Risk Type II, which means they cook and/or carry raw food and therefore must be inspected at least twice each year. Starbucks and Rita’s hold a Risk Type I, which means the restaurant does not cook food. They must be inspected at least once every year.
Ru San’s is not the only local restaurant to have trouble with health ratings.
Rice Box, a Chinese restaurant across Monroe Drive from Grady, failed a health inspection on Aug. 6 because of violations including having roaches in the restaurant. Other restaurants that failed recent health inspections include the Panera Bread in the Ansley Mall shopping center on April 1, Highland Tap on Aug. 7, Surin of Thailand on Jan. 14, and El Taco on Jun. 5.
Panera Bread and Surin of Thailand were cited for employees improperly washing their hands. El Taco and Highland Tap both had flies throughout their facilities, and Ru San’s and El Taco were cited for employees handling food with bare hands.
All of these restaurants passed their follow-up inspections.
“If they ultimately pass on a re-inspection then we don’t have to come back unless we think they need extra monitoring,” Blake said.
Ru San’s and Rice Box were unavailable for comment, and Panera Bread declined to comment for this story.
MetroFresh, only a block away from Grady, has passed all five of its inspections since January.
“With every restaurant, you have to be prepared for a health inspection to happen at anytime,” said Stephanie Fekete, one of the managers at MetroFresh. “It has to do with the habits we try to instill … we have to check the temperatures of the soup every morning, it’s just something that we do habitually.”
Fekete said the temperature of the food, the cleanliness of the kitchen and how food is stored heavily contribute to the inspection score.
