Action 9

Dirty Restaurants: See which Central Florida restaurants made the list

ORLANDO, Fla. — Action 9 exposes restaurants in Central Florida that keep failing basic food safety inspections

“Hi, Todd Ulrich from Channel 9.”

Ulrich showed up with a retired federal food inspector at Wok & Roll on Lake Underhill Road to see what's going on inside the restaurant. Action 9 chose the restaurant after it failed five state inspections.

“This is a big deal?” Ulrich asked the retired food inspector.

“This is a very big deal,” Paul Cook said as he pointed out frozen chicken thawing in stagnant water in the dish sink.

“That’s a high-priority violation,” Cook said.

“There's a contamination risk here?” Ulrich asked.

“Very much. (There’s) standing water. You're also washing your dirty pots and pans,” Cook said.

Action 9 spotted a soiled cutting board, a wide-open back door and other risky food temperatures.

“A very dangerous level right here,” Cook said.

A manager said his staff had made big improvements; however, Action 9 found more trouble inside the cooler.

“These are dirty wire baskets storing food,” Cook said.

“Based on what you saw, does that restaurant get a failing grade?” Ulrich asked.

“For the short amount of time we're here, I saw three critical violations,” Cook said.

Action 9 analyzed 51,000 state inspections to isolate top food safety violators over the past two years.

New on Action 9’s list is Norman's Raw Bar in Cocoa, Jimmy Hula's near UCF and La Lechonera Latina on East Colonial in Orange County.

China Buffet on International Drive was found to be a top violator. Action 9 and Cook found many repeat violations that included hand-wash sinks turned into trash cans and uncovered food on the floor. Cook said he also found other unsafe conditions in the cooler.

“Rusty water contamination, dripping down. And we need a cover on this,” said Cook.

Action 9 found dirty conditions from the wok line to the meat cleavers stored with screw drivers and wrenches.

“Yeah, they're not doing daily cleaning,” said Cook.

Go Hyang Gip, a Korean barbecue restaurant in south Orlando, flunked nine recent inspections for roaches. Inspectors said it was so bad, the restaurant was closed four times the same week.

Action 9 found minor items, like uncovered food on the floor, but no bugs. The owner said they've hired new pest control.

“You made big changes?” asked Ulrich.

“Of course,” replied the owner.

The owner at Norman's Raw Bar told Ulrich he has a new manager, the kitchen has been remodeled and other serious issues have been corrected.

Jimmy Hula's near UCF did not return calls.

Todd Ulrich

Todd Ulrich, WFTV.com

I am WFTV's Action 9 Reporter.