Chinese Gourmet Express, a fast food franchise located in the Bayshore Mall’s food court, was ordered closed today after a routine inspection revealed numerous health code violations, including rotten food, warm refrigerators and unclean surfaces.

Inspectors from the Environmental Health Division of the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services found “moldy broccoli, rotten green onions, [and] boxes of thawed chicken [with] blood leaking onto walk-in refrigerator floor,” according to the inspection report.

Inspectors also found that it was 52 degrees inside a walk-in refrigerator unit, well above the maximum allowed temperature of 41 degrees. The manager on-site voluntarily discarded the food inside, including 140 pounds of chicken, a case of raw beef, 20 pounds of raw broccoli, 30 pounds of steamed egg noodles, 40 pounds of celery, plus other assorted vegetables. 

Given these conditions it’s perhaps not surprising that the inspector noted “a foul smell” inside the refrigerator. The inspector also noted that the floors were unclean and said the person in charge “demonstrates a lack of knowledge for food safety practices.”

A total of nine violations were identified, and the restaurant will remain closed until those violations have been corrected and the facility re-inspected. The manager has until Friday to correct the violations.

You can read the full inspection report below. A phone call to the restaurant this evening went unanswered.

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DOCUMENT: Official Inspection Report