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Japanese steakhouse in Florida closes after customers test positive for meth

44 points by metadat 3y ago

kstrauser 3y ago
King of the Hill did it first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1029PjJJUnk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1029PjJJUnk So did Mike Myers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPMS6tGOACo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPMS6tGOACo
BlackJack 3y ago
"On June 9, the day of the alleged poisoning, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation conducted an inspection at the restaurant and conducted a follow-up inspection on June 13. The department found a total of 31 violations at the restaurant, including employees switching from preparing raw to ready-to-eat food without washing their hands and the restaurant was reporting with an expired Division of Hotels and Restaurants license, the PNJ reported." Hard to feel bad for the restaurant if employees are making raw food without handwashing...
- Alupis 3y ago
  Doesn't sound great - but then again, you'd be surprised just how many "violations" are passable, even in strict areas like California. Back in my youth, the restaurant I worked at always passed, but had 2 pages of notes for things that weren't correct. Most are benign, like dust found under the stove.
  - zingababba 3y ago
    I worked as a cook at a TGIF when I was younger. I've seen things...food dropped on the floor and still used...the general laissez-faire attitude of kitchen staff under the right conditions can be appalling. I haven't been to a TGIF since I left and I avoid chains of that caliber as much as possible.
    - worstestes 3y ago
      You’d be surprised that this isn’t uncommon in even some upscale establishments
      - red-iron-pine 3y ago
        there are only 15 waygu steaks in the freezer and tossing one because it might have hit the floor isn't acceptable
  - godelski 3y ago
    I worked at a movie theater and the ice machine had mold. I even not so subtly showed the health inspector who didn't care. This was California too... We got an A rating.
- fsckboy 3y ago
  what you quoted said they switched from raw to ready-to-eat preparation without washing their hands, from which the risk would be something like "contaminating the cooked chicken with raw chicken"; it does not say that they prepped raw food without handwashing which would be like "not washing your hands after the toilet"; although if cooking is going to kill the salmonella, it'd probably kill the e coli too.
  - 1letterunixname 3y ago
    If time permits, prepare ready-to-eat ingredients first, then raw, and followed by hand washing. Separate everything for raw ingredients because there's no time to wash dishes, cutting boards, and knives when customers expect a show AND dinner.
- cirrus3 3y ago
  Was anyone feeling bad for the restaurant?
- aaron695 3y ago
  [dead]
Alupis 3y ago
If the restaurant had anything to do with the poisoning, then there should be legal consequences. However, I don't understand why so many businesses treat social media like it's something to be taken serious. Probably 99% of the social media "backlash" they received were from people who don't even live in the city the restaurant is in. Ignore it... it'll go away. It always does...
- hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
  The article seems to refute what you are saying. In other words, the restaurant did reopen, but their traffic was way down (and the restaurant owners are saying social media is to blame) to the point that they had to close.
  - Alupis 3y ago
    It doesn't entirely refute it, but yes it did mention their local news continued to flog the story daily. It does not make it clear why they closed in the first place, however. I was speaking in general terms. Companies quiver at social media outrage. It's always performative... and it passes. Don't pay attention to it...
    - hartator 3y ago
      They had to because of the other 31 health violations the health dept found?
      - Alupis 3y ago
        No, the article says 31 violations, and there was a follow-up inspection. That's fairly normal for the food industry - only the absolute most severe violations would shut down the operation. The article doesn't make it clear the inspections are related, particularly given the first inspection was on the same date some of the guests reported falling ill. Edit: Here's the related story about the violations[1]. The article mentions the business was open on the 14th, the day after the follow-up inspection. So it does not appear they were closed due to any health inspection related reason. You can read the list of 31 violations - they are all mostly benign, and pretty typical for many restuarants. [1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/dining/2023/07/05/nikko-japanese-steak-house-and-sushi-bar-health-violations-found/70378584007/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/dining/2023/07/...
eBombzor 3y ago
Cynical me thinks they put in the steaks because they thought it would make people want to keep coming back. How does meth get on a steak, I wonder.
- 9991 3y ago
  Because it's labelled as salt?
- xk_id 3y ago
  Would have to balance the euphoria against the appetite suppression
shepardrtc 3y ago
It's very possible that meth was smuggled in with food or other things that the restaurant ordered and one of the packages broke open. Not saying that the restaurant smuggled it in, but it just happened to be in with whatever they ordered. The 31 violations perhaps indicate a lack of cleanliness which could have prevented contamination.
- danbruc 3y ago
  Last year eight people got an overdose of MDMA leading to one death after drinking a bottle of champagne that was used to smuggle the drug and accidentally ended up in a restaurant and was sold to the group. [1] [1] https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/06/ecstasy-in-champagne-warning-in-europe-expanded-one-dead/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/06/ecstasy-in-champagne-...
CPLX 3y ago
Hibachi guy keeping it in a salt shaker maybe?
fuckyah 3y ago
[dead]
sackbut 3y ago
I can't believe I'm linking pensapedia on hacker news, but this wouldn't be the first time a drug ring in a beloved restaurant was exposed in the county which I grew up. Presenting Cancun Mexican Restaurant in Gulf Breeze, within walking distance of the high school I went to. https://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/Rogelio_Galvan_Chavez#cite_ref-guilty_3-2 https://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/Rogelio_Galvan_Chavez#cite_r...
- Arrath 3y ago
  Happens fairly often, it seems. My favorite pizza place growing up (they had the terminator 2 light gun arcade game!) got busted for dealing out of the back and closed down as a result. I don't think they ever cross contaminated a pie and got customers high, though.
- cirrus3 3y ago
  A pizza place near me in a very nice area of St Paul MN was busted for being a drug front... I always thought it was weird that no one seemed to actually go there. From the look of the place you could kinda tell they were probably just cooking frozen pizzas if anyone did go there. I always suspected something was off. Turns out I was 100% correct, I have great drug-front-radar, it is at the top of my resume.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
withinrafael 3y ago
Worth noting unopened packets were reportedly also found to be contaminated! [1] > Detectives said that two soy sauce bottles and unopened to-go packets of the condiment that were tested came back positive for methamphetamine, according to the television station. [1] https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/japanese-steak-house-closes-weeks-after-meth-found-soy-sauce/4BAP2PI27VBRVMVBO3WQWRFRMA/ https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/japanese-steak-house-clo...
throwawayyy9237 3y ago
I don't know the first thing about it. But when thinking, jokingly, along the lines of "forbidden condiment", does it actually have a "taste" (I mean in the taste buds, literally)?
catlover76 3y ago
[flagged]

44 points by metadat 3y ago

King of the Hill did it first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1029PjJJUnk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1029PjJJUnk So did Mike Myers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPMS6tGOACo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPMS6tGOACo

BlackJack 3y ago

"On June 9, the day of the alleged poisoning, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation conducted an inspection at the restaurant and conducted a follow-up inspection on June 13. The department found a total of 31 violations at the restaurant, including employees switching from preparing raw to ready-to-eat food without washing their hands and the restaurant was reporting with an expired Division of Hotels and Restaurants license, the PNJ reported." Hard to feel bad for the restaurant if employees are making raw food without handwashing...

Alupis 3y ago
Doesn't sound great - but then again, you'd be surprised just how many "violations" are passable, even in strict areas like California. Back in my youth, the restaurant I worked at always passed, but had 2 pages of notes for things that weren't correct. Most are benign, like dust found under the stove.
- zingababba 3y ago
  I worked as a cook at a TGIF when I was younger. I've seen things...food dropped on the floor and still used...the general laissez-faire attitude of kitchen staff under the right conditions can be appalling. I haven't been to a TGIF since I left and I avoid chains of that caliber as much as possible.
  - worstestes 3y ago
    You’d be surprised that this isn’t uncommon in even some upscale establishments
    - red-iron-pine 3y ago
      there are only 15 waygu steaks in the freezer and tossing one because it might have hit the floor isn't acceptable
- godelski 3y ago
  I worked at a movie theater and the ice machine had mold. I even not so subtly showed the health inspector who didn't care. This was California too... We got an A rating.
fsckboy 3y ago
what you quoted said they switched from raw to ready-to-eat preparation without washing their hands, from which the risk would be something like "contaminating the cooked chicken with raw chicken"; it does not say that they prepped raw food without handwashing which would be like "not washing your hands after the toilet"; although if cooking is going to kill the salmonella, it'd probably kill the e coli too.
- 1letterunixname 3y ago
  If time permits, prepare ready-to-eat ingredients first, then raw, and followed by hand washing. Separate everything for raw ingredients because there's no time to wash dishes, cutting boards, and knives when customers expect a show AND dinner.
cirrus3 3y ago
Was anyone feeling bad for the restaurant?
aaron695 3y ago
[dead]

Alupis 3y ago

If the restaurant had anything to do with the poisoning, then there should be legal consequences. However, I don't understand why so many businesses treat social media like it's something to be taken serious. Probably 99% of the social media "backlash" they received were from people who don't even live in the city the restaurant is in. Ignore it... it'll go away. It always does...

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
The article seems to refute what you are saying. In other words, the restaurant did reopen, but their traffic was way down (and the restaurant owners are saying social media is to blame) to the point that they had to close.
- Alupis 3y ago
  It doesn't entirely refute it, but yes it did mention their local news continued to flog the story daily. It does not make it clear why they closed in the first place, however. I was speaking in general terms. Companies quiver at social media outrage. It's always performative... and it passes. Don't pay attention to it...
  - hartator 3y ago
    They had to because of the other 31 health violations the health dept found?
    - Alupis 3y ago
      No, the article says 31 violations, and there was a follow-up inspection. That's fairly normal for the food industry - only the absolute most severe violations would shut down the operation. The article doesn't make it clear the inspections are related, particularly given the first inspection was on the same date some of the guests reported falling ill. Edit: Here's the related story about the violations[1]. The article mentions the business was open on the 14th, the day after the follow-up inspection. So it does not appear they were closed due to any health inspection related reason. You can read the list of 31 violations - they are all mostly benign, and pretty typical for many restuarants. [1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/dining/2023/07/05/nikko-japanese-steak-house-and-sushi-bar-health-violations-found/70378584007/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/dining/2023/07/...

eBombzor 3y ago

Cynical me thinks they put in the steaks because they thought it would make people want to keep coming back. How does meth get on a steak, I wonder.

9991 3y ago
Because it's labelled as salt?
xk_id 3y ago
Would have to balance the euphoria against the appetite suppression

shepardrtc 3y ago

It's very possible that meth was smuggled in with food or other things that the restaurant ordered and one of the packages broke open. Not saying that the restaurant smuggled it in, but it just happened to be in with whatever they ordered. The 31 violations perhaps indicate a lack of cleanliness which could have prevented contamination.

danbruc 3y ago
Last year eight people got an overdose of MDMA leading to one death after drinking a bottle of champagne that was used to smuggle the drug and accidentally ended up in a restaurant and was sold to the group. [1] [1] https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/06/ecstasy-in-champagne-warning-in-europe-expanded-one-dead/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/06/ecstasy-in-champagne-...

CPLX 3y ago

Hibachi guy keeping it in a salt shaker maybe?

fuckyah 3y ago

[dead]

sackbut 3y ago

I can't believe I'm linking pensapedia on hacker news, but this wouldn't be the first time a drug ring in a beloved restaurant was exposed in the county which I grew up. Presenting Cancun Mexican Restaurant in Gulf Breeze, within walking distance of the high school I went to. https://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/Rogelio_Galvan_Chavez#cite_ref-guilty_3-2 https://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/Rogelio_Galvan_Chavez#cite_r...

Arrath 3y ago
Happens fairly often, it seems. My favorite pizza place growing up (they had the terminator 2 light gun arcade game!) got busted for dealing out of the back and closed down as a result. I don't think they ever cross contaminated a pie and got customers high, though.
cirrus3 3y ago
A pizza place near me in a very nice area of St Paul MN was busted for being a drug front... I always thought it was weird that no one seemed to actually go there. From the look of the place you could kinda tell they were probably just cooking frozen pizzas if anyone did go there. I always suspected something was off. Turns out I was 100% correct, I have great drug-front-radar, it is at the top of my resume.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

withinrafael 3y ago

Worth noting unopened packets were reportedly also found to be contaminated! [1] > Detectives said that two soy sauce bottles and unopened to-go packets of the condiment that were tested came back positive for methamphetamine, according to the television station. [1] https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/japanese-steak-house-closes-weeks-after-meth-found-soy-sauce/4BAP2PI27VBRVMVBO3WQWRFRMA/ https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/japanese-steak-house-clo...

throwawayyy9237 3y ago

I don't know the first thing about it. But when thinking, jokingly, along the lines of "forbidden condiment", does it actually have a "taste" (I mean in the taste buds, literally)?

catlover76 3y ago

[flagged]