Batter Up!

Tulare, California — An abundance of mice — some dead and at least one still alive and floating in a bucket of batter forced county health officials to close a Chinese restaurant in Tulare because it posed a threat to public health. Jean Jean Chinese restaurant, at 72 N. Tower Square in Tulare, was visited by Tulare County Environmental Health inspectors after Tulare city officials received a complaint that restaurant employees were dumping grease into city storm drains. City fire investigators accompanied them on the inspection.

"We saw that they were actually dumping the grease in the city storm drain," environmental health inspector Lovejot Gill said. But inspectors didn't stop there. An inspection performed Oct. 9, during which Gill saw numerous mice droppings alongside food improperly stored on the floor, prompted a closer look to see if things had been cleaned up. This time Gill found three dead mice in traps behind kitchen equipment, another four decomposed mice under the reach-in refrigerator unit and one still alive in a bucket of batter.

"This rodent problem was really, really a threat to the public health because of the disease the mice might carry," he said. He also found food still being stored on the floor. "They said they would fix it, and this [time], I saw a lot of food on the floor." He said the generally sloppy kitchen conditions were the reason the rodents were so attracted to the kitchen: There was plenty of food around to eat.

Rick Chan, a member of the family that owns the restaurant, denies the charges. He posted a hand-written sign at the front door that says only that the restaurant closed because the "kitchen is being fixed" and apologizing for the "sudden inconvenience" to customers. He said they did not dump grease into city storm drains, and said the mice problem was exaggerated. "We don't believe this totally because we have a pest control service, and they're not perfect but they do their best," he said.

Tulare Fire Department officials also issued a citation to Jean Jean because of the illegal dumping, which could affect groundwater, fire investigator Frank Furtaw said. The citation also ordered them to clean the grease baffles because of the fire hazard from a buildup of excess grease.