Allen County Health Department approves reopening of Golden Corral after restaurant closed due to cockroaches

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – The Allen County Department of Health (DOH) has reopened the Golden Corral in Fort Wayne near Lima Road after briefly closing the restaurant on Tuesday due to the discovery of cockroaches in several areas of the restaurant, according to DOH documents.

The DOH said it received a complaint on Monday referring to Golden Corral saying “a cockroach crawled out of her salad onto her plate.”

DOH documents indicate that during the inspection, a health inspector observed two “alive and free” cockroaches in the pizza buffet area, one behind the freezer within easy reach of the restaurant and the other on the wall near a prep sink at the end of a buffet line.

The health inspector also observed a dead cockroach on the floor under the prep sink and a trapped cockroach under the main buffet line, according to DOH documents.

Documents say the inspector observed receipts from Orkin, a pest control service, which showed they performed services at the restaurant on September 15 and 26. 26.

The DOH documents say the Sept. 26 receipt from Orkin indicated that the company was “treating baseboards and placing bait in areas infested with active cockroaches.”

The documents also indicate that a responsible person was unaware of the recent complaint and had not had similar complaints recently.

Following the inspection, the DOH closed the Golden Corral until the restaurant completed a to-do list, which allowed the company to request a follow-up inspection and request its reopening.

After conducting a follow-up inspection, the DOH cleared Golden Corral to reopen Tuesday evening.

The DOH also received a complaint about cockroaches at Golden Corral in April, but no disciplinary action was taken because no cockroaches were seen during the inspection.