Friday, January 10, 1997
HEALTH:
Medical Plaza restaurant had vermin infestation, lacked permitBy
Brooke Olson
Daily Bruin Staff
A popular restaurant located in the UCLA Medical Plaza was
closed for a short time for vermin infestation and poor general
sanitation.
The Plaza Deli and Grill was shut down by county health
inspectors on Nov. 27 last year after an alleged food poisoning
brought in special investigators to closely examine the
restaurant.
The grill, which is privately owned and does not have any
connection with UCLA, reopened the next day after inspectors
determined that the restaurant met sanitary conditions.
"The restaurant had severe vermin infestation  including
rats and cockroaches and they also did not have a permit to
operate," said chief county health inspector Terrance Powell,
noting that the grill was cited for 29 violations.
Other violations included lack of appropriate food
refrigeration, unsanitary food areas such as tables and counters
and unclean food equipment, including silverware. In addition,
structural damage, such as broken ceiling tiles and cabinet doors,
counted for over five of the violations.
The restaurant "complied and followed the inspector’s
recommendations and was reopened the next day … although some
structural items remained," Powell added.
Restaurant owner Morteza Delpasand first said that the
unsanitary conditions were a result of the previous owner’s
negligence.
Delpasand assumed ownership last year on Oct. 1 and did not make
any changes in procedures until the restaurant was closed by
inspectors.
"The old owner was not doing what he was supposed to do … and
that was why the place was so bad," Delpasand said.
However, the owner later denied the findings, remarking that the
inspector had made up the violations.
"We had (the grill) sprayed for rats and stuff a week before the
inspector came," Delpasand said. "There were no rats here when (the
inspector) came."
The owner further alleged that "the inspector came (to the
grill) deliberately looking for a problem" simply because of the
food poisoning allegations.
But the chief county health inspector denied that an alleged
food poisoning ultimately means that an inspector will find
violations within the restaurant.
Instead, "the allegations serve as a basis for (inspectors) to
view the manner in which the grill both prepares and serves the
food," Powell said.
Despite the differing views, Delpasand believes that the alleged
food-poisoning was a hoax, generated by one person who had not even
eaten in the restaurant.
Claiming that the alleged victim merely asked for a dollar’s
worth of change from a restaurant cashier, Delpasand said that
there was no way the person could have been poisoned.
In addition, Delpasand added that the grill serves over 500
people a day and if there was an outbreak of food poisoning, "at
least 10 or 15 people would’ve gotten sick."
Delpasand could not explain how the cashiers were able to
remember the alleged food poisoning victim after serving 500 people
a day.
Inspectors noted that food poisoning can occur in isolated
incidents. Sometimes, the same type of meal may be prepared
differently at various points during the day, inspectors said.
Despite these violations, some restaurant patrons, such as Bob
Mayler, remain confident in the grill’s service.
"The food is fine here. I eat here all the time and it tastes
better than hospital food. I’ve never had any problems with it," he
said.
GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin
Plaza Deli and Grill was closed by health inspectors Nov. 27,
1996.