52 Replies to "West Seattle restaurants: Health Department closes Maharaja"

• me September 10, 2015 (12:42 pm)

  Gross, I loved that place.

• Steph September 10, 2015 (12:49 pm)

  That’s too bad. I have never eaten there, but the backroom bar was amazing.

• westseaneighbor September 10, 2015 (1:20 pm)

  Wow, I actually really liked their food. Now I’m kind of grossed out–won’t look at them the same again. Too bad there aren’t many options for good Indian food nearby.

• Sue September 10, 2015 (1:29 pm)

  Just looked at their history. I know no restaurant is perfect, but that’s WAY too many “unsatisfactory” ratings since the beginning of the year IMHO, and now a closure. I’d be hesitant to eat there again.

• Ray September 10, 2015 (1:34 pm)

  I like that place. Eat there about once a month for the last two years.

  Disappointing. Hopefully they can turn things around quickly.

• john didenhor September 10, 2015 (1:43 pm)

  good. The last time I ate there, I got very sick!

• Jeff September 10, 2015 (1:50 pm)

  Actually tried to go there yesterday evening, but they had a sign on the door indicating they were closed for the day to “remodel the kitchen”. They indicated they planned to reopen today.

• Curate September 10, 2015 (1:52 pm)

  Ugh, this is really disappointing. Their Chicken Tikka Masala is one of my favorite all-time dishes. I also got sick from a powerful stomach virus in July — now wondering if they were the source.

• Cashmere September 10, 2015 (1:58 pm)

  Ate there a couple years ago, and our whole group felt sick afterwards. Never went back and unfortunately I’m put off by Indian food as a result

• maplesyrup September 10, 2015 (2:26 pm)

  Bummer, I liked that place but I am not entirely surprised. I sort of suspected there were some, let’s say unorthodox practices at work but overlooked it because I liked the food.

• squareeyes September 10, 2015 (2:39 pm)

  I’m there pretty close to once per week for a few years now. Neither I nor my companions have ever become sick.

  I was chatting with a bartender at another establishment not too long ago who said that a new health inspector had been assigned to their restaurant and was writing them up for multiple items that the previous inspector had said were satisfactory. Maha could be having a similar experience.

• morgan September 10, 2015 (2:42 pm)

  I eat there weekly, the food is great, never had an issue. EVER.

• Assam September 10, 2015 (2:50 pm)

  I eat there regularly, and I’ve never had an issue. EVER. I hope they get back up and running soon!

• aa September 10, 2015 (2:52 pm)

  I am not condoning bare handed contact with ready to eat food, and I am happy to take this opportunity to call your attention to the overconfidence that comes from wearing gloves as a food handler. Next time you are in any grocery store, from MM to Safeway. Stand and watch the people in the deli with gloves on, are they walking around handling equipment, putting their gloved hand on the door as they walk around, and then with the same glove they will reach in and handle your food. Gloves give food handlers a mistaken sense of cleanliness. If they weren’t wearing gloves they would wash their hands more often. Resulting in a cleaner surface touching your food. ALWAYS ask them to put on a fresh pair of gloves EVERY time you order food at a deli counter. Also, ask them when the salad was made if they don’t know when the pasta salad was made don’t buy it. And finally, ask how they refresh their bowls, are they simply scooping more salad into the bowl, resulting in a bowl of food that is combining several batches of food prepared on different days?

• Northwest September 10, 2015 (3:05 pm)

  It’s unfortunate that king county health inspectors don’t also include the area outside on the sidewalk and street of establishments like Majaraj and others where patrons eating and using the bar are smoking and littering cigarette butts. Could be a simple requirement that the restaurant provided receptacle for smokers to use, make it the law.

• Jeanine September 10, 2015 (3:08 pm)

  The thing about food borne illness is that most “healthy” people have immune systems which can handle a little bit of pathogenic food.
  But if Grandma or Junior were to eat the same thing they could become very sick or even die.

  Those violations are serious business.

  edit: the post by aa up above is truth.

• Love Maha September 10, 2015 (3:15 pm)

  @ squareeyes, you are right, there is a new inspector in the area. I wish I could say she is by the book, but she is excessive in her citations to the point of ridiculousness. I have been eating at Maha for 5 years now, never been ill (and I have a super sensitive stomach) and will go back once they reopen. Not only do they have a killer lunch buffet, great back bar with stellar service, but they deliver for those days and nights where you don’t feel like going out. I hate to see them so drastically effected by this inspector.

• sad September 10, 2015 (3:18 pm)

  I am SO sad. This is my favorite place to order take out. Probably eat there three times a month. NEVER had a problem. I lived in India for 2 years, this place is great.

• P September 10, 2015 (3:29 pm)

  No surprised, but sad. That place used to be good, but the quality of the food and service got worse and worse until we gave up on the place entirely about two years ago.

• JB September 10, 2015 (3:33 pm)

  Gross. WA state should follow California’s policy where they display the ‘grade’ in the window. I wouldn’t eat anywhere that didn’t have an A!

• wsgal September 10, 2015 (3:46 pm)

  Hopefully the can keep the bar open!

• Mike September 10, 2015 (4:11 pm)

  Bummer…had food and drinks with friends there on Sunday night. Everything was great.

• sc September 10, 2015 (4:20 pm)

  aa
  I’ve also watched food workers wearing plastic gloves touching non food items and then touching food. Seems like they are trying to use the same gloves for as long as they can.

• Amanda C. September 10, 2015 (4:25 pm)

  Anyone know if Chipotle opened today, as was planned? I know, unrelated question… but still WS Restaurant news :)

  • WSB September 10, 2015 (4:29 pm)

    @Amanda – Yes, they did. It’s in our daily “West Seattle Thursday” preview, both the reminder that they were scheduled to, and then a brief update that we went by after 11 am and they were indeed open and busy (“jammed” was Patrick’s description). – TR

• New-to-Seattle September 10, 2015 (4:27 pm)

  As a newbie to the area, some of the food handling requirements here are pretty uncommon, and very overzealous. I worked in the restaurant industry for years as a specialist manager that went to re-open stores that had been closed due to health code violations, and have seen regulations go from good to “good intentions” to “make people that don’t understand pathogens, feel good”. Handling food with gloves is the worst regulation in the industry and leads to more contamination than ever. Gloves get changed less than hands used to get washed. This restaurant was my wife and I’s first date night after we moved here, and I look forward to returning.

• unhappy diner September 10, 2015 (4:49 pm)

  I got food poisoning years ago from this restaurant and have been amazed that they have stayed in business this long. I will never eat there again!

• PSPS September 10, 2015 (5:19 pm)

  I was probably one of the first customers at Maharaja when they opened after the closure of Von’s and have eaten there regularly ever since. I’ve never had any trouble and still like their food. How long has that been? 30 years?

• Lashanna September 10, 2015 (5:21 pm)

  Bummer deal. Our family loves the Maha. If we are lucky we get to eat there once a month! I trust they will correct cited behavior.
  We will be back- the food, service and drinks are really amazing! And they are one of the few REAL food places that deliver to the food desert – South Park!

• jgonplay September 10, 2015 (5:26 pm)

  I notice from the complete health dept history that pre-2012, there weren’t many issues. What has changed since then? New management?

• LarryB September 10, 2015 (5:36 pm)

  King County has very strict food handling rules. If the inspector shows up between when the paper towels or soap runs out and it gets refilled, even if it’s only minutes, it’s a violation.

  I don’t have an opinion about the glove thing, although I will ask food handlers who touch surfaces to put on new ones.

  The main thing that disturbs me about this is the temperature control. This and cross-contamination are often the reason that people get sick.

  Again, King County is aggressive, but you do have very limited time to get food cooled to 140 in a set period too. (I forget the time – it’s been years since I’ve had a food handlers card.)

• bob September 10, 2015 (5:48 pm)

  Maha has re-opened!!!

• b town viking September 10, 2015 (5:52 pm)

  Hahaha. Glad I only stopped in for drinks.

• brizone September 10, 2015 (5:59 pm)

  If you actually look up their inspection record, they’ve had many of the same problems going back years and years. Apparently they had a bad enough inspection to be closed in January, too. However the public health database seems to imply that they weren’t shut down for some reason.
  .
  If anything, it would seem they’ve been given some kind of special dispensation in the past for that poor – recurring – inspection episode (which is a little bizarre and doesn’t foster confidence in KC Public Health either…)

• onion September 10, 2015 (6:11 pm)

  If the issue is a new food inspector who has higher standards than the previous inspector, then I would expect a period of increased citations, followed by a period of improved safety for customers as restaurants “raise their game.” I haven’t eaten at Maharajah in years, but would not have reservations about doing so after their fix the problems mentioned in their citation.

• smokeycretin9 September 10, 2015 (6:17 pm)

  Sounds like someone didnt offer the health inspector his obligatory bribe.

  Long live the Maha!

  • WSB September 10, 2015 (6:23 pm)

    There’s actually been a long list of closures on the KCPH website lately; this is the first WS closure in some weeks. http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/ehs/foodsafety/inspections/closures.aspx

• foodhound September 10, 2015 (6:55 pm)

  12 of 19 closures are in S King County. Interesting.

• dhg September 10, 2015 (7:35 pm)

  Smokeycretin9: this isn’t the East Coast and I don’t expect any health inspectors to be open to bribes.

  Regarding use of gloves: Totally agree with the two posters. I don’t order the “fresh sliced” deli meats at stores for that very reason. Those gloves are used everywhere and then they are all over the sliced meats. Without gloves, a disposable sheet of wax paper is used. So much better.

• miws September 10, 2015 (7:54 pm)

  PSPS, I was going to say that Vann’s closed down 20, 25 years ago at the most.

  .

  Then I looked it up :-(

  (scroll quite a ways down):

  http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8725

  .

  Mike

• Funrunner September 10, 2015 (8:42 pm)

  Haven’t been in years. Great bar, food was foul

• LovelyA September 10, 2015 (9:27 pm)

  I too got super sick after a dinner there– so grossed out right now… Boo
  Yay to the health dept!!!

• flimflam September 10, 2015 (9:58 pm)

  nobody will want to hear it, but each health inspector has their own way of doing things, their own “hang ups” and things they prioritize in an inspection. I know this first hand.

  .
  one inspector will freak out if the bleach solution in a cleaning bucket is a hair off while another will barely look in a walk-in or other cooler..

  .
  not saying that this business did nothing wrong – just that you can’t go on the inspection reports as gospel one way or another.

• Eyes Wide Open September 11, 2015 (2:46 am)

  I own a restaurant in West Seattle. In over 8 years I’ve never been afraid of Health Inspectors; please tell us if we’re doing something wrong so we can correct it immediately! I want to follow all rules! I certainly don’t want Health Department violations!! I value customers!!! We have always had perfect scores (0) or maybe, maybe a 5.
  This new Inspector IS scary, and I’ll tell you why. For 7 years you have Inspectors telling you that everything is great. You change nothing. Then here comes a new Inspector who tells you that there are violations you were NEVER cited for in the past! On one visit (but never since) this woman actually tried to tell us we needed screen doors for our front door & patio door. Huh? She has also said that we can’t move from doing dishes (in hot, soapy water) to preparing food without waiting a period of time. Huh? When did this become a rule?? Recently she cited us for not having staff have possession of their own Food Handlers Cards. They’re hanging in the office!! Nope – they need to have them on their person. What??
  Please don’t judge restaurants too harshly – we LOVE the Maharaja & the food is authentic and wonderful. Yes, these may be serious violations and hopefully they have corrected them but like someone above said – you need to be careful thinking that the Health Department is above simple mistakes and even a little bullying; sorry but that’s how it feels!

• Eric September 11, 2015 (5:00 am)

  I’m pretty sure it’s the bar with its cheap, stiff drinks ( at least when I used to go there)that keeps this business afloat

• KJ September 11, 2015 (6:24 am)

  Total agree with the glove comments. Gloves, imo, are dangerous. Thankfully, when I owned a food booth, we we able to show to the KCHD that gloves were not needed, so we did not even stock them. (Utensils!)
  Some potential guests were concerned, but we could easily explain to most why they were not a good idea, and the lead inspector used to send people out way for some ideas about safe food handling without gloves.

  Almost no one (I watch) follows the rules around hand washing pre-donning and once you take them off, and to change them frequently before they break. Gloves in food service are gross and dangerous, and a completely misguided requirement for handling ready-to-eat food, and the individual restaurants should push back, and use utensils as much as possible.

• JTB September 11, 2015 (9:20 am)

  Without knowing the specific foods and temperatures, or what items were exposed to cross contamination at what stage of preparation, it’s hard to know how functionally serious those violations are. Obviously they were quickly remedied so it’s a matter of technique or workflow in the kitchen. That’s entirely different than rodent infestation, contaminated ingredients, or inadequate plumbing, etc.

  “Eyes Wide Open” makes a case for a particularly picky new inspector who clearly made a point with this operation concerning whose authority demands respect.

• WSince86 September 11, 2015 (10:01 am)

  Agree with everyone who has commented regarding the glove issue. Not effective when they make your food then wipe their nose as happened at MM yesterday! Wipe the nose, fix food, wipe nose? Left without my lunch!

• Krista September 11, 2015 (3:06 pm)

  Have you ever gone into their restaurant bathroom….that should red flag you enough. Gross! I felt dirtier leaving after washing my hands. Food was delicious and the buffet is such a deal. Love the employees….

• Isa Isa September 12, 2015 (12:10 am)

  I, too, got really sick from the Maha. Such a bummer because I love the back bar. Hope they get things sorted out- I have had some delicious food there, but haven’t gone back since I got sick.

• Marathonmom September 12, 2015 (1:22 pm)

  I love Maja! They are so nice to my kids, I love the buffet. I will be going back.

• dawsonct September 19, 2015 (11:26 am)

  E.W.O., while I agree the rest of the “violations” are ones I’ve also never heard of, each food handler IS responsible for having in possession their own card at all times as well.
  It can certainly be in their locker or other storage and doesn’t have to physically be ON the person, but their personal copy of the card does need to be on the premises when they are working, and not just in the office.
  I presume it is to ensure the workers match the cards on file.

Sorry, comment time is over.