Clement Street's D & A Cafe Closed Amid String Of High-Risk Health Violations [Updated]

Clement Street's D & A Cafe Closed Amid String Of High-Risk Health Violations [Updated]

Photos: Will Callan/Hoodline

Will Callan
Published on December 16, 2016

According to a posted notice from the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH), D & A Cafe at 407 Clement St. has been closed since Nov. 14th. The Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant’s voicemail recording indicates that it will reopen in mid-December, but offers no further information about the closing. 

According to documentation regarding the shutdown from the DPH’s Environmental Health Branch, should D&A successfully address the various reasons for its closure––which include rat and roach infestations––it will reopen within a few weeks. For a more detailed timeline, read on. 

After a routine DPH inspection on May 4th, 2016, D & A received a restaurant safety score of 66 (out of 100). Under DPH guidelines, anything below a 70 means that the inspector observed multiple high-risk violations. For D & A, that meant dirty work stations, improper hand washing, live cockroaches and rat droppings. 

D & A remained open, but was ordered to hire services to eradicate the vermin. 

On May 19th, Health Inspector Rachel Cheng reinspected the restaurant and found repeat violations in the sanitization and food storage categories. But the vermin had been dealt with, and the restaurant stayed open. 

Fast forward to Sept. 7th. During a routine inspection, Inspector Cheng and Principal Inspector Mary Freschet tallied the longest list of violations yet. Notably, raw chicken and vegetables had not been protected from contamination, the facility lacked running hot water, and the rats and cockroaches had returned. 

D & A received an inspection score of 48, and was ordered to close. 

After an abatement hearing and an on-site food safety training course held for D & A employees on Sept. 14th, the DPH lifted the suspension on D & A’s permit to operate.

Two months later, in a Nov. 14th re-inspection, Inspector Cheng once again observed a long list of repeat violations, and the restaurant was ordered to close. 

Representatives of D & A's owner, LKY Inc., appeared at a hearing on Nov. 22nd, during which the DPH listed the contingencies of D & A’s reopening. They include:

  • Repairing and resurfacing all flooring and other porous surfaces
  • Hiring professional steam cleaning services for all cooking equipment
  • Hiring a professional pest control service
  • Putting employees through the official Food Handler certification course (distinct from the on-site training course)

A letter from the DPH states that failure to comply “shall result in a deferral to the Director of Public Health Hearing with the recommendation to deny your application for a health permit to operate in San Francisco.”  

“They expect to have abated all their violations for a re-inspection soon,” the DPH’s Nancy Sarieh told us. “If they pass this re-inspection, they will be allowed to resume operations.” 

We’ll let you know if and when that happens. 

Update, 12/27: D & A is back open as of Saturday, December 24th.