After Cockroaches Cause Closure, Joy Yee Noodle Is Back In Business

EVANSTON, IL — After a nine-day shutdown resulting from the discovery of live cockroaches and other health violations, Joe Yee Noodle is back in business on Davis Street. The Evanston location of the local pan-Asian restaurant chain was closed on Aug. 16 on the orders of the Evanston Health Department following a random inspection of the kitchen.

The inspection turned up live German cockroaches on the walls, in an area used for food preparation, inside food containers and by the ice machine, according to records of food establishment inspections in Evanston.

Even though a follow-up inspection on Aug. 24, turned up more cockroaches — dead ones in a bin of flour and a live one downstairs by a sink — the restaurant reopened this week, reported the Daily Northwestern, which has rated Joy Yee as a top location for delivery and Thai noodles in recent years.

Records of previous health inspections reveal that this month's roach revelations are not the restaurant's first at its Evanston location. In April, an inspection turned up live roaches in the kitchen, along with 10 other violations. A follow-up a few weeks later showed no violations and gave the restaurant a perfect score.

Evanston Public Health Manager Ike Ogbo did not immediately return a message seeking further explanation.

_{Top photo: Sarah Camp (CC)}