Red Onion to Pay $375,000 for Health and Safety Citations

The Red Onion restaurant chain was ordered Thursday to pay $375,000 in penalties and fees for 28 alleged health and safety violations over the past year, from failing to keep vermin from the premises to blocking emergency exits.

The civil settlement was the largest ever obtained by Orange County authorities against a restaurant for health and safety violations, said Bob Merryman, the county’s director of environmental health.

The action against the Mexican restaurant chain followed numerous citations for alleged code violations involving self-service buffets, he said.

Chance for Contamination

Health inspectors found violations that could cause food contamination throughout the chain’s 13 restaurants in Southern California, according to papers filed Thursday in Orange County Superior Court.

The juices of raw meat and chicken were permitted to mix with other foods, employees regularly ate from the buffets with their fingers while serving food, and foods prone to the spawning of bacteria were not kept at proper temperatures, the papers alleged.

Inspectors charged that the restaurants followed several other unsanitary practices, including propping open doors that could allow mice and cockroaches into kitchens and failing to properly dispose of food waste and rubbish.

Safety Violations

Additionally, authorities accused the chain of numerous fire safety violations, including keeping exit doors dead-bolted, failing to keep working fire extinguishers on hand and overcrowding the restaurants.

Merryman said he was not aware of any patron who became ill because of the alleged violations.

In the settlement approved by Orange County Superior Court Judge Philip E. Cox, the restaurant chain did not admit guilt but agreed to pay the penalty to correct a series of health and fire code violations. The chain also agreed to supervision by the Orange County district attorney to ensure compliance with regulations.

The Red Onion’s attorney, Paul Meyer, declined to discuss the settlement, under which the chain will pay $320,000 in civil penalties and $55,000 in court costs and attorney fees.