When diners sit down for a meal in Sacramento County, the last thing on their minds should be sharing their dining experience with German cockroaches or rat droppings scattered throughout the kitchen. Yet this year has seen numerous local restaurants and markets shut down for severe health infractions, raising serious questions about food safety standards in the region.
The scope of the problem is significant, with Sacramento County conducting roughly 14,000 inspections annually. While 97% of restaurants pass their inspections, about 1% result in closures for serious violations. Sacramento County reports that vermin infestation is the most common reason for inspectors to close food-serving facilities.
Recent Shocking Discoveries
The violations being uncovered paint a disturbing picture of food safety failures. Sacramento County health inspectors closed two local restaurants after finding more than 90 German cockroaches scattered across the facilities. At Pho Saigon Bay, inspectors found a total of 57 live German cockroaches and 18 dead roaches throughout the pho restaurant.
At SAAP SAAP Hmong Thai Cuisine on J Street, inspectors discovered more than 200 live and dead cockroaches throughout the Thai restaurant. The violations extend beyond just cockroaches, with Sacramento County health inspectors shutting down three local restaurants after discovering cockroaches, rodent droppings and dirty knives.
The Rodent Problem
At The Backyard in Rancho Murieta, inspectors found approximately 48 rodent droppings in various locations around the bar and grill. About 20 rodent droppings were discovered inside a box of steam table plastic liner below a food preparation table, according to inspection reports. Inspectors also saw rodent droppings on restaurant floors and dirty knives that had been put away on a rack but were unclean.
Ten Ten Room downtown was closed after eight live German cockroaches were found "in a small gap under the bar counter top." Seven rodent droppings were also discovered, and the floor bar was found to be "unclean" with "heavy slime mold accumulation."
How Inspections Work
Sonia Andrusiak, a supervising environmental health specialist at Sacramento County who manages a team of eight health inspectors, explains the inspection process. When cockroaches are discovered, inspectors physically count them and identify them in different life stages using just a good eye and a flashlight. County health inspectors see cockroach infestations year round, with no seasonal patterns.
When serious violations are discovered, inspectors sit down with restaurant owners and advise them that the restaurant will need to shut down immediately. Patrons at the restaurant are asked to leave and no one is allowed to come inside or order food until the issue is resolved. Sacramento County currently has 27 restaurant inspectors and one mobile food inspector conducting an estimated 14,000 restaurant inspections annually.
Understanding the Placard System
A yellow placard signals two or more major violations that are typically corrected during the inspection, while a red placard signals "imminent danger to public health and safety" and suspends the health permit until violations are corrected. This could include major vermin contamination, in contrast to a green placard that means a restaurant passed the inspection.
Notable Cases and Owner Responses
Serritella's in Carmichael received attention when inspectors found a total of 11 live German cockroaches and more than five dead roaches throughout the Italian restaurant. Inspectors found 25 dead roaches "on the floor at the pizza prep area, beneath the grill, next to a deep fryer, next to a water heater and beneath the back storage metro shelf." Co-owner Bonnie Prophet acknowledged the violations, saying "All I can say is we're a community restaurant and I have a huge space." She added that "the report sounds ten times more dreadful than the actual experience when I was standing there with the inspector."
Beyond Vermin: Other Common Violations
The two most common violations that Sacramento County health inspections spot at restaurants are foods being held at improper temperatures and improper hand washing. During a recent roundup of local restaurant inspections, five out of the six restaurants that were cited for violations had food at improper holding temperatures.
About 1% of facilities closed by inspectors are shut down due to cockroach infestations, a situation that officials say needs to be handled "very gently." Most restaurants fully pass reinspection within 72 hours, suggesting that while problems are being addressed, the initial violations point to deeper issues in restaurant management and food safety culture.
For Sacramento County diners, the inspection reports serve as both a warning and a resource, with local media publishing weekly updates on health inspections across Sacramento County, providing transparency about which establishments are meeting food safety standards and which are falling short.
