Health Department Agrees to Exclude Restaurants Closed by Fires From Its Closure List

Under pressure from restaurateurs who feel unfairly maligned, the county Department of Health Services has agreed to a minor modification of its monthly list of restaurants closed for unsanitary conditions.

The health department list will no longer include establishments whose health code violations were caused by fires, officials said. Owners complained that it was misleading to include fire-related closures next to those caused by vermin infestation, sewer backups and other potential health risks.

“They’re not closed because of unsanitary practices,” said Brenda Ballard, a county environmental health staff specialist. Health officials often order eateries shut after fires because ash and other debris contaminate food preparation areas.

County officials will still require an inspection before the restaurants can reopen and begin serving customers. However, the owners will no longer suffer the humiliation of seeing the name of their business in print next to facilities shut down for scurrying rodents.

The new policy is a small concession to an industry where anxiety levels have increased dramatically since county health officials began instituting a new series of inspection policies--including a grading system--this year.

One entrepreneur on the closure list complained that he was victimized not by a fire, but an automobile. “A lady crashed into our store with a car,” said Roger Ebrahimian, an owner of Crispy Deli in Glendale. “It damaged everything. That’s why we were closed for 25 days.”

Ebrahimian said health inspectors showed up at his restaurant about two hours after the March 12 accident, which also left one of the deli’s workers slightly injured.

“They said, ‘You cannot operate,’ ” Ebrahimian said. “I said, ‘Of course not. I have $50,000 in damage.’ ”

Sometime after Ebrahimian had reopened, a friend saw the Crispy Deli in The Times’ list of restaurant closures, which is based on information released by the health department. County officials reported the deli shut down for, among other things, “contaminated food.”

“I was so upset,” Ebrahimian said. And a little mystified, he added, because the inspectors who came when he was ready to reopen the deli had issued him an “A” grade.

This week the health department released the names of 13 establishments that had been included on the closure list for fire-related problems. Those restaurants, shut down between Feb. 28 and April 27, include: Via Portofino and Wolfgang Puck’s Express in Santa Monica, Prezzo in Sherman Oaks, Lumpinee restaurant in North Hollywood, Crispy Deli in Glendale, H. Salt Fish and Chips in South Gate, Jade Barbecue in Rosemead, Omega Drive Inn in Downey, Subway Store No. 7953 in Hawthorne, India Chat House in Artesia, Margarita’s restaurant in Pico Rivera, India Tandoori in San Dimas and Mother India in Canoga Park.