Posted on 11/11/2013 7:40:26 PM PST by nickcarraway
While 20% of eateries citywide get low letter grades, half of Chinatown's restaurants earn B or C grades that eat at revenues.
Chinatown's Buddha Bodai stands out in its crowded neighborhood.
In a community where few restaurateurs speak fluent English, Buddha Bodai's co-owner Kent Zhang is the exception. The eatery is also among the minority in the area to accept credit cards, and its menu—both kosher and vegetarian—has earned it plenty of media attention over the years.
Despite these advantages, Buddha Bodai is similar to nearly half its neighbors in one big way: It has earned a dubious Grade Pending from the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and B and C grades for past inspections.
In Chinatown, a neighborhood with nearly 300 restaurants, just 51% of them boast an A letter grade, according to the Chinatown Business Improvement District, compared with 80% of restaurants citywide. The preponderance of eateries with a dreaded B or C contributes to the area's ongoing struggle to attract tourists and locals alike because of negative perceptions about the restaurants there being dirty and vermin-infested.
Some business owners say lower grades affect revenue by as much as 25%, which is compounded by the hefty fines they pay. The most common critical violation is related to food that is not kept at the proper temperature, but there are also a fair share of violations that cite evidence of mice and roaches.
(Excerpt) Read more at crainsnewyork.com ...
PING
First in!
An old favorite:
“There’s a cat in the kettle at the Peking Moon,
I think I gotta stop eating there at noon,
They say that it’s beef or fish or pork,
But it’s purrin there on my fork,
There’s a hairball on my fork.”
Does Liza Fickenscher of Crains mean every Chinatown in the country ? Sounds like a law suit is comming to me. She doesn’t even identify the city by name who’s department of health and hygene which is giving the resturant she refers to with a “dubious” Grade.
The article makes it clear it is Chinatown in NYC.
if it tastes good, what difference does it make what it was??
Herro Kittee!
When the lowest-level and most poorly educated Chinese peasants emigrate to the USA, their first job is often either sweatshops, or restaurants - owned by the people who brought them over. So they bring their sanitation habits with them.
Those are Japanese restraurants. You can tell because they’re clean and feature removable stuff in front that could be stolen but consistently is not.
One fellow told me liked to eat lunch at a Chinese restaurant near the office. I told him him the joint had been closed twice for serving feline fare. He was revolted and asked why nobody told him. Prior to that he had enjoyed it!
Prease no starch.
there’s that picture of the asian restaurant sign saying ‘we don’t know where your cat is’ or somethng close to that...
My favorite was always Hung Far Low, in NW Portland OR, back in the 70s and 80s. Don’t know if it’s still there.
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