PARIS, IL. (ECWd) –
According to a customer of B & J’s restaurant (aka “The Track Shack” as it is also known due to its proximity to the railroad tracks), he complained to the Edgar County Health Department about seeing cockroaches while eating in B &J’s Restaurant. The Health Department performed an inspection and noted the refrigerator was not keeping food cold enough and chose not to continue with their inspection at that point.
The restaurant closed until that problem was fixed.
He complained a second time to the Health Department about cockroaches after observing them in a subsequent visit to drink some coffee, and the health department arrived to perform another inspection.
During this inspection, the owner decided to take the food away from the customer’s (Rob Bogue) 3-year-old grand daughter, who had not finished eating yet, and ordered Rob to leave the premises. Other customers were in there, and they were allowed to stay, so we can assume he knew who filed the second complaint.
But, it did not stop there…
The owner decided to place a letter in the local newspaper after the first inspection that basically stated the Health Department did not know anything about operating a restaurant, they just showed up with a thermometer and book – which, incidentally, is a major part of operating a food establishment (keeping food at the proper temperature).
The Health Department did the job it was supposed to do, in our opinion.
Food not kept at the proper temperature can be a health hazard.
He also placed a poorly written and misspelled letter by the door telling everyone that “Attendtion” . . . “No service to ‘Robet’ Bogue” in B & J’s.
The bottom line of this story is that if you complain about food safety and cockroaches in B & J’s Restaurant in Paris, Illinois, be prepared to have your name on the wall telling every customer that you are not allowed to be served there again – without any explanation as to why you are not allowed in there again.
Other customers deserve to know why Rob was banned so that they don’t dare complain to the Edgar County Health Department about cockroaches in B & J’s Restaurant at 256 N. Main St. in Paris, IL 61944, phone number (217) 465-9006, for fear of being banned and humiliated in a similar way.
Our next article will discuss those complaints, and the Health Department’s inspection results will be provided to our readers so they can formulate their own opinions.
We tried contacting the owner for a statement, by calling the restaurant and leaving a message with an employee, but did not hear back at publication time.
.
Please consider a donation to the Edgar County Watchdogs.
[wp_eStore_donate id=1]
17 Responses
I have also been there and have seen roaches.. They were out in the built on door way to the front of the building.
I stopped eating there along time ago cause of the roaches. .
Its never been a good place to eat in my opinion but several other people seem to like it there never understood why but taking the plate for my three-year-old seriously what kind of person does that and if you have cockroaches in your establishment and maybe you should just close now or actually take care you the problem once and for all
I can speak only for myself as a mom, but I would not go back to a place that I knew had cockroaches. To be candid however, as a former food service worker (high school waiting tables in a diner and in college working in dining center) any place that has food has bugs/vermin. It is a constant battle to keep the bugs/vermin at bay. 90% of restaurants have bugs/vermin in kitchen but good restaurants eradicate them instantly. If the bugs/vermin spread to the dining area so customers can see them then the infestation is very bad. If bugs/vermin are moving about in daytime and feel they have the run of the place, then the infestation is epidemic levels. If you see a roach in the dining room, then there are so many roaches in the kitchen and storage room that the roach you saw felt pressure to move out of the kitchen in search of more food/territory. If you see a roach, you should stop eating, call the manager over, demand a refund, leave, and file a health code complaint.
I have not been in BJs in 7 years because of the 2 cockroaches I killed on the wall and the 1 on the table crawling towards my sons plate. And I won’t be back, cleaned up or not. The bathroom was filthy, you could see the kitchen from the doorway and it was a disaster also. I have chosen not to return which is my choice. I do not know if the same owners owned it then or not. I DO believe he saw roaches, they do tend to go around food but I’m sure they are not the only restaurant in this town that has them or has had them. As for him complaining..that was his right, it was also his choice to go back. Maybe he thought the problem had been resolved with cleaning and spraying. anyone that has been there on a regular basis has had to have seen them, they were everywhere when I was there..and no I did not eat my food but I did leave the waitress a tip.
1st: There must have been a problem with the refrigerator – they closed the restaurant. i.e. if there wasn’t a problem the restaurant wouldn’t have closed.
2nd. I don’t understand why the owner would remove the food before they were finished eating – just because this guy put in a complaint.
3rd. It’s unfortunate the “who” complained was known to the owner, and, the owner chose to make an issue of it instead of trying to correct any problems.
I got bad service when I went in both times and haven’t been back. Not to mention ive had better food at plenty of other places in town. There are at least 20 OTHER places to eat in town not including B&Js.
I’ve ate there for years, and will continue to do so as long as the doors are opened. I’ve never once seen any infestations of ANY kind nor had any problems. The family that runs the establishment are reasonable people. noticed that there is a picture of a hand written letter(which I’m sorry it’s in poor taste to make a statement about someone writing skills to shame them) , but were is a copy of the newspaper article?the inspectors report??? And as far as I can see the man was harassing the owners, after the 1st inspection WAS there an infestation? If yes then why on Earth did he go back with his grand-daughter 1st(check out the place on your own fine, but with a child?), there are other restaurants in Paris? If no then if the man seen them again HOW did the inspectors miss them?…
reporting problems to the health department is not harassing the owners
Big Dog: The two complaints were made several days apart and in advance of my return visit. A visit which happened to be a response to a friend’s invitation to meet at this restaurant.
I had, and have, no reason to believe our health department cannot handle this or any other problem involving food safety and public health: past or present.
It is important to know, the waitresses, cooks and even these owners need customers to survive. My complaints are only intended to address what may be a temporary and unhealthy insect problem. A problem that can be solved.
I have also been in BJs many many times and am well acquainted with someone who goes there daily. Neither of us have ever seen any roaches. As for the refrigerator, an appliance serviceman was called and did a thorough inspection of the refrigerator in question. Found absolutely no problem.
Ok, I may not be the brightest bulb in the group, but what dumbass would see cockroaches in a restaurant, complain about it, then bring your 3 year old granddaughter in to eat the food, see more cockroaches and allow her to eat the food? “Here honey, have a cockroach crap omelet”. That is insanity.
Around here there are limited numbers of places to eat. Giving eat place the benefit of doubt and returning after you think they may have fixed the problem is not unusual. If I quit going to places every time there was a problem there would be no place left to go – and just because a place may fail an inspection does not necessarily mean they are not worth returning to after the problem is fixed.
Exactly!!!!
because he made the story up, ive been all over that restaurant, and never once seen any bugs.
Ive seen them so I’m sure he didnt make it up
He’s not lying. That’s actually the same reason I stopped going there a couple years ago. I’ve seen a couple crawling on the wall right next to me.