Andover Board of Health Will Consider Suspending Permits For Two Restaurants

ANDOVER, MA -- Managers from two Andover restaurants are scheduled to appear before the Board of Health Monday night for continued show cause hearings on whether or not they will have their food service permits suspended or revoked after receiving critical violation notices during inspections conducting earlier this year. King's Subs at 11 Bartlett Street had previously appeared before the board in April, while Tokyo Steak House at 560 Main Street had been before the board during its June meeting.

In June, the board ordered Tokyo Steak House to pay for weekly inspections for two months, followed by monthly inspections for an additional four-month period. At that time, the restaurants owners, Helen and Ken Huong said they had already hired a consultant and had conducted a retraining of the staff to help them address repeat, critical violations.

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Despite those measures, the board remained concerned that the Huongs did not understand the seriousness of the hearing. An inspection report indicated that "no one seems to be in charge of the kitchen," according to meeting minutes. Board member Pamela Linzer, said at the time she was considering suspending the restaurant's permit so they could address all of the problems. The minutes did not specify what specific rules Tokyo Steak House violated.

In April, King's Subs manager Tony DeBernardo appeared before the board with his consultant, Peter Mirandi, to respond to an inspector's report that found critical violations of the Andover health code. At that meeting, according to the minutes, Mirandi told the board that DeBernardo had already addressed many of the issues that had been raised in the town inspector's report. The minutes did not specify what specific rules King's Subs violated.

Linzer raised concerns at the meeting that if DeBernardo were to leave the restaurant, the training and changes that had been put into place would not be sustained. King's Subs owner Steven Haginicholas told the board he would close the restaurant if needed to hire properly trained staff members. At that meeting, the board recommended that the restaurant close 30 minutes earlier to allow for more time to clean and ordered the restaurant to return in six months for a status update on their progress.

Andover Public Health Director Thomas Cardone was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).