Chinese restaurant fixes mouse dropping problem; comedy club deals with flies

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - It’s a Throwback Thursday edition of the Restaurant Report as we check in with some of the restaurants we’ve featured in recent months.

Ho Ho Chinese Restaurant on East Laburnum Avenue had 20 violations this spring that included large amounts of mice droppings throughout the kitchen and in the storage area on shelves, floors, and on cans of food.

The health department says the restaurant “worked really hard” to fix the mouse dropping issue, dropping to just two core violations in a follow up inspection.

In July, Funny Bone Comedy Club in Short Pump had 21 violations, including soda gun nozzles with a mold-like substance as well as flies near a hand washing station.

The health department says the club has dropped to two priority foundation and 10 core violations, but the flies have stuck around.

Melito’s, a family-owned restaurant on Three Chopt Road known for its hot dogs, had 25 violations in May and was cited for storing food on the floor, as well as mold on the ice machine.

The manager said they worked on it and did not wish to comment any further.

The health department has been back since and says the restaurant has fixed both of those issues, dropping to one priority and six core violations.

This is how the Virginia Department of Health describes its violations on its website:

• Priority identifies a provision in the Regulations whose application contributes directly to the elimination, prevention, or reduction to an acceptable level, hazards associated with foodborne illness or injury and there is no other provision that more directly controls the hazard.
• Priority foundation identifies a provision in the Regulation whose application supports, facilitates, or enables one or more Priority items.
• Core identifies a provision that is not Priority or Priority foundation and that usually relates to general sanitation, operational controls, sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs), facilities, equipment, or general maintenance.

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