After less than a year in business, the Hibachi Grill and Supreme Buffet in the Brookside Plaza apparently closed its doors earlier this month
A representative at the North Central District Health Department said Brookside Plaza management contacted them about the restaurant site being abandoned with food still remaining. "They apparently just up and left," the representative stated, adding that the business was not shut down by the health agency.
An email message from Patch to Laura Schmitt of Equity One, managers of the Hazard Avenue strip mall, had not been returned as of Thursday morning. Neither Shi Shen Chen, owner of the restaurant, nor Kong Wang, manager of the establishment, could be reached for comment.
A crude cardboard sign in the window reads, "We're on vacation! To suspend business for 3 weeks, and reopen on 11/15/2012."
Hibachi Buffet received its certificate of occupancy on Dec. 22, 2011, according to health department files.
The agency received a number of complaints about the restaurant during its short tenure. The majority claimed the food was not hot enough, and inspection reports by health department employees indicated "failure to maintain proper food temperatures at hot and cold holding buffet tables," according to the files.
An inspection on Jan. 24, 2012 yielded a poor rating of 65, and a followup visit a week later showed a 79 rating. After training sessions with health department officials, the rating improved to 96 on Feb. 15, but had dropped to 82 by early may, an agency report stated.
A complaint of food poisoning was registered on June 29, according to records.
