So far this year, Region of Waterloo Public Health has ordered six restaurants closed for health code violations – more than were closed in all of 2014.
Included in that number is the China Bowl in Kitchener, which was closed in August after cockroaches were discovered in the King Street East facility.
China Bowl has since reopened on King Street North in Waterloo.
According to the public health unit’s website, the Kitchener location has been reinspected since its closure.
Seven infractions were found on that visit, including failure to provide adequate protection against the entrance of pests.
Public health officials say they try to work with restaurant operators to clean up their businesses before laying charges.
“Enforcement is the last resort,” said Aldo Franco, the region’s manager of health protection and investigation.
Elsewhere on King Street East, Easy Earthen wasn’t closed, but it was fined more than $1,000 in July for a series of violations that included failure to clean utensils, failure to protect food from contamination and inadequate maintenance of the ventilation system.
Restaurant manager Haoyang Fu says changes have been made to bring Easy Earthern within compliance, but the timing of inspections can make it difficult to meet the region’s standard.
“When an inspector comes to the restaurant, especially in rush hour, we cannot make it perfect at that time,” he said in an interview.
Health inspectors investigate every complaint made by restaurant customers.
More than 5,000 inspections were conducted in 2014, turning up 2,393 critical infractions.
