Roaches are dead, but problems remain at St. Paul restaurant

A popular St. Paul restaurant (that’s in Minnesota, in the U.S., dontchaknow?) is fighting to stay open no longer has live cockroaches in its kitchen, city inspectors have reported, but there are dead ones nearby, as well as other problems.

TwinCities.com reports that days after the owner of Kim Huoy Chor Asian Cuisine publicly pledged his University Avenue eatery was sparkling clean after two years of failing inspections, city inspectors found numerous problems remained, from food being left out for hours to "dozens of dead roaches in an unused hallway in the basement," according to an inspection report.

Last Wednesday, council member Dave Thune was the lone holdout on a city council that was short a couple members. He prevented his colleagues from closing the restaurant after city attorneys and inspectors reported that two years of violations at Kim Huoy Chor amounted to the worst chronic violation in the history of city food inspections. At least two patrons reported being sickened after eating at the restaurant at 1664 W. University Ave.

Since Taing assumed ownership two years ago, inspectors documented a "cockroach infestation" and persistent food safety violations that they said could lead to food poisoning.