It’s been an eventful day in the eternal battle to keep your Humboldt County restaurants safe and pest-free, with inspectors issuing closure orders to not one but two local facilities — one in Eureka, the other in Arcata.

Both will stay shuttered until their issues have been rectified, at which point they may emerge from their chrysalises. 

The Subway in the Uniontown Shopping Center

At 12:45 p.m. today, an inspector from the Humboldt County Health and Human Service’s Division of Environmental Health paid a visit to the popular submarine sandwich chain’s downtown Arcata location, and that inspector did not like what was found.

To wit: Sewage backing up into the facility.

It might not be quite as bad as it sounds. The inspector noted that the backup was from “floor sinks and drains.” The inspector promptly issued a shutdown notice, saying that the facility may reopen when it has unclogged all drains and sanitized all surfaces.

• Read the inspection report here.

Guatemayan Yum Yums

A different sort of health hazard was discovered at the popular Eureka eatery just over an hour later. That hazard was: Cockroaches. Many cockroaches!

An inspector noted “a live adult cockroach on the counter adjacent to the microwave in the food preparation area.” Several more were found underneath a sink. Dead cockroaches were found, as well as what were euphemistically referred to as cockroach “droppings.”

Obviously, this cannot stand. Guatemayan Yum Yums is required to sanitize the entire facility and contract with a pest control service before reopening.

• Read the inspection report here.

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We will update when the restaurants in question are cleared to reopen.