LARGO, Florida — Kobe Italian owner Jackie Xu says his restaurant has nothing to hide. And to prove it, he's taking the bold step of posting his establishment's health inspection report right next to the front door!
"I wanted people to see that everything is clean now," said Xu who built his restaurant from the ground up.
It's been just over a month since state health inspectors ordered Kobe Italian to temporarily close. Back in December, the restaurant located on Ulmerton Road in the Icot Center, had 38 violations including some live roaches in the kitchen.
10 News stopped in after the restaurant was cleared to reopen to see if conditions had improved. We also asked to see a copy of the restaurant's latest inspection.
"We don't need to show it to you," said an employee who asked us to leave the property.
Restaurants are required by state statute to show a copy of their latest inspection report to anyone who asks. It was a law restaurant staff at first was unaware of.
"The health inspections are very important to customers. Your stories are very important to getting that word out there. When you asked for it [Jackie] didn't have a copy, it was emailed to him," said Xu's good friend and attorney John McGuire who suggested the inspection report be posted on a wall where customers could see.
The hope is, if those customers have questions about past violations, restaurant staff can explain what was done to get any problems quickly corrected.
CHECK INSPECTIONS:See how your restaurant did on its inspection
"He'd rather put it on the wall. They can all look at it if they'd like to and if they'd like to ask if he fixed anything on that report he'll show them anything in this restaurant," said McGuire.
A dirty refrigerator sea and worn out cutting board were among the final two issues this restaurant needed to fix.
"All health inspections have something on them or the health inspector wouldn't be doing their job," said McGuire. "So when that health inspector puts him on notice that the cutting board needs to be replaced he does it immediately."
LEARN MORE:More Restaurant Red Alert reports
And while it may seem picky, health inspectors point out even the most basic violations all in an effort to help the restaurant run a cleaner, safer kitchen.
"You never going to be 100 percent perfect," said Xu. "You're always going to have something because everything is run by human beings. Humans make a mistake. We're not a machine."
He hopes from now on his posted inspections will attract new customers instead of scaring them away.
"Nothing wrong with that," said Xu pointing at the inspection now hanging on the wall. "People love seeing that!"
And while it's certainly not required, Xu is challenging other Bay area restaurants to post their inspections as well taking the mystery out of what conditions are really like behind the kitchen door.
