Yangming Restaurant in Bryn Mawr had days to clean up their restaurant after a customer found a roach in their food. Police said after returning five days later there was still roaches and expired food in the restaurant.
A day after the health department closed down a popular Main Line Chinese restaurant once named the nation's best, police and officials returned to remove more items, including insects and moldy food containers, from the infested eatery.
Radnor Township health and building officials closed Yangming in Bryn Mawr, on Tuesday and posted a health citation in the front window that listed "Gross Facility & Equipment Sanitation" and "Insect/Rodent Infestation" as reasons for the closure.
On Wednesday, police and health officials returned to the eatery at County Line and Conestoga roads to remove evidence from inside including a plastic bag with three roaches inside and expired food.
"They've had five days to clean up," said Radnor police chief William Colarulo. "What we found today was deplorable, so imagine what it looked like five days ago when it's still deplorable -- we're pulling out roaches and expired food."
The sewer inspection team was also on scene Wednesday using cameras to inspect underground pipes where police said the restaurant dumped cooking grease.
"There's grease that's running off from this property into the common sewer area," said Colarulo. "Wherever you look it's just very disturbing, very angering."
Radnor Township manager Robert Zienkowski said the conditions inside the eatery were "totally unacceptable."
"I spoke with the owner this morning and told him all of his management staff should be fired within the next five minutes," said Zienkowski.
The multi-day closure came after the restaurant called police over a customer dispute stemming from a teenage girl twice being served a roach in her food Friday, said police. That dispute escalated after the family found the compensation from the restaurant to be insufficient, said police.
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When officers arrived Friday afternoon, "there were roaches that were in plain sight" in the kitchen, said Radnor Police Lt. Andy Block.
Local health officials then shut down the restaurant until it was disinfected, said Block.
"We had a situation where the kitchen was unsanitary due to some infestation of insects," said township health officer Larry Taltoan. "I did see some insects in the food facility and in some places there shouldn't be any."
The restaurant said the closure lasted only an hour -- health inspectors claimed the closure lasted a few hours -- and that they cleaned up the insects before reopening for the weekend.
A handmade sign placed below the bright orange violation Tuesday stated, "Closed on Tue. 8/18/15 for Renovation." That closure continued Wednesday as the eatery said it would not be open.
Alan Nuynh, manager of the restaurant, told NBC10 the roaches crawled in through a damaged vent in the kitchen, which wasn't broken when Yangming passed inspection back on July 29.
"We're very concerned about customer safety and food safety for the restaurant," he said. "We've been there for 25 years."
The restaurant said they updated their out-of-date HVAC and exhaust systems and also made improvements to meet fire regulations. They also removed and cleaned equipment. Nguyen said they spent around $12,000 on repairs Tuesday.
The improvements weren't enough to get them back to serving food Wednesday. Taltoan said the restaurant must pass a detailed inspection to make sure its in compliance with the state health code before it could serve food again.
"What really shocked me is that when you walked into the restaurant the tables are set with silverware and linens like their ready to open," said Colarulo. "They're nowhere near ready to open and it's not going to be for a longtime."
Contractors came in Wednesday to fix electrical and plumbing violations.
Nuynh hoped to get work done within a few days.
"We might be able to do it in a couple of days or sooner," said Nuynh.
The eatery, popular among Main Liners and area college students, has a history of praise. In 2011, Yangming beat out about 45,000 other eateries to top Chinese Restaurant News’ “Best Chinese Restaurant” list.
Police didn't expect to file any criminal charges.
