Floyd's, Great China Fail Inspections

Floyd's Cajun Seafood, one of our favorite area seafood restaurants, and Great China, arguably the oldest Chinese restaurant in Beaumont, both received failing grades initially from Beaumont health inspector today.

The news that Floyd's flunked the inspection did not come completely as a shock to me for two reasons. First, from the previous inspection, Floyd's only earned an "AVERAGE" rating from the Beaumont Health Department (and perhaps for this exact reason, the inspection sign was not posted prominently for the public to see until they were walking out the door). Next, the fried oysters served to me about one month ago were lumpy, mushy, and had the consistency of cottage cheese. At the time, I merely attributed those facts to the oysters being out of season (months without "r's") and didn't think much more about it. In hindsight, I should have returned the questionable oysters as soon as the irregularities were discovered (since Floyd's oysters always tasted juicy and fresh); but with only less than one-hour lunch and no time to spare, I ate them anyway with quiet displeasure.

These are the details from today's Leger's Restaurant Report Card:

Inspector Lee checked out Floyd's Cajun Seafood on I-10 South. She found oysters, beans and raw fish at unsafe temperatures, chicken was thawing in standing water, and there were numerous flies in the kitchen area. Floyd's received a failing grade of 64 but was able to make improvements before opening and raise the score to 84. Floyd's didn't have to close.

(As for) Great China Restaurant on Calder. Inspector Lee found chicken, noodles and rice at unsafe (temperatures), the inspector saw egg rolls dropped on the floor and then an employee pick them up and put them in a cooler, the wiping cloths were not in sanitizer which is necessary to kill germs. The inspector found so many serious problems she forced the restaurant to close for several hours until the problems were corrected. Great China Restaurant on Calder received a failing (grade of) 59; but has since improved and reopened.

There's no guarantee that on any given day you can be sure to receive a meal that's not only delicious in taste, but also prepared according to sanitary standards required by law. Thanks to the diligence of the dedicated health inspectors hard at work everyday, most of us not only can feel good about dining out, more importantly, we can go home, unaffected by food-borne illnesses and stay alive. Safeness of the food that we consume, should always outweigh its taste. When you eat out, your safety is really in the hands of others, and I do mean many others, so choose where you eat, wisely.--Lorenzo