Popular Lawrenceville restaurant ordered to close as plumbers work on sewer line
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A popular Lawrenceville restaurant was ordered to close while plumbers work on the sewer line after inspectors found sewage in the basement.
The Allegheny County Health Department ordered Industry Public House on Butler Street to close after an inspection on Wednesday.
According to the inspection report, plumbers are walking through food storage areas while fixing the sewer line. There's also sewage on the floor in front of the beer cooler from the plumbers pumping it out, the report says.
In the basement, the inspector said the ice in the ice machine, potatoes on a shelf and meat being prepared in the food preparation room are all exposed to possible contamination.
While at the restaurant, the inspector also reported seeing an employee in the basement food preparation area putting on gloves without washing their hands first.
The restaurant voluntarily closed on Tuesday. County health officials inspected it after complaints from restaurant employees.
"It smells bad, people are kind of disgusted by the fact that we're open and operating while there's waste in the basement," employee Haley Passione told KDKA-TV on Monday.
The report from Wednesday also says the restaurant failed to report "an imminent hazard" of a sewage backup, and in the event of an emergency, the Allegheny County Health Department's Food Safety program needs to be notified.
Building management told KDKA-TV's Mamie Bah on Tuesday that the work isn't a quick fix and there's a blockage preventing it.
The Allegheny County Health Department's Food Safety program conducts inspections and also investigates consumer complaints. People who have concerns about something they experience while eating out can submit a complaint online.