Consumer alert issued for Glenshaw restaurant found with over 100 dead ants
Update, Aug. 22: The consumer alert is now lifted.
Update, Aug. 14: In a re-inspection Monday, eight violations were removed, including the ants. Nine violations remained, including two high risk. A consumer alert was still posted for the facility on the county's website at 5 p.m. Monday.
Allegheny County issued a consumer alert for Middle Road Inn in Glenshaw on Friday after inspectors found more than 100 dead flying ants in the basement and 16 other violations.
Five of the violations were high-risk, mostly involving food not being kept and cooled at cold enough temperatures.
An inspector also witnessed a worker in the kitchen removing rings of raw onions with bare hands and placing them on sandwiches, the county report said.
Other violations included a dishwasher that does not sanitize, raw bacon and eggs being stored above ready-to-eat products in the fridge and black garbage bags used to store produce.
A call to the Indiana Township restaurant was not immediately returned, but the restaurant posted the following comment to the Trib's Facebook page Monday afternoon:
“We here at Middle Road Inn are aware of the recent reports of a Consumer Alert from ACHD. We want our customers to know that the alert has been lifted as of today. We take responsibility for that we had some issues due to lack of knowledge. In that regard, we will be re-certifying our kitchen staff through the recommended health department classes. We feel that the issues we were cited for were minor issues, like using black plastic bags instead of clear and our walk-in refrigerator being 2 degrees above ideal temperature. We have taken every measure possible to rectify these issues. We promise to always make Middle Road Inn and safe and fun place for our customers. We hope that you see that there was know immediate danger to our customers and we are fully on top of all the issues brought to our attention by ACHD and we look forward to seeing you back in our restaurant soon.”
Theresa Clift is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-5669, tclift@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tclift.
