Andover Health Inspector 'Disappointed' By Restaurant's Efforts To Address Health Code Violations

ANDOVER, MA -- Tokyo Steak House, which is scheduled to appear before the Andover Board of Health Monday for a hearing to decide whether its permit should be suspended or revoked, has failed to address many of the issues raised at the board's June meeting and inspections led earlier this year. Despite hiring a consultant, the restaurant at 560 Main Street failed its most recent inspection, according to documents reviewed by Andover Patch.

"I have been very disappointed in the results of a series of inspections, but have waited to see a sustained response in operational changes based on statements provided by your contract inspector," Andover Director of Public Health Thomas Cardone wrote in a September 25 letter to Helen Huong, Tokyo Steak House's owner. "The most recent inspection on September 10, 2017, reveals that your staff has not embraced positive changes in sanitation and temperature control, making corrections only as the consultant entered the facility."

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Tokyo Steak House was originally scheduled to be before the board in December, but a string of problems in recent inspections led to the rescheduling to Monday. 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.

In the consultant's September 10 inspection, the restaurant scored 79 out of 100 points. Among the problems were food storage and labeling, prep areas that were not cleaned and food that was not returned to the refrigerator until the consultant arrived for a spot inspection. In a second inspection by the consultant on October 2, the restaurant scored 99 out of 100 points.

Cardone's letter and the consultant's inspection reports for all inspections conducted since the June Board of Health meeting can be viewed online.

A second restaurant, King's Subs and Pizza at 11 Bartlett Street, is also scheduled to appear before the Andover Board of Health for a continued compliance hearing. 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 most recent consultant's inspection of the restaurant was conducted on October 2 and found two violations related to food-borne illness risks. That report, as well as the inspection reports that led to the compliance hearing for King's Subs, are also available online.

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).