(BIVN) – Pancho & Lefty’s Cantina & Restaurante in Kona was closed on Thursday, after it was issued a red inspection placard by the Hawaiʻi Health Department for multiple food safety violations.

According to the DOH, a health inspector observed the following violations:

• Live and dead cockroaches were observed on food-contact surfaces, in ready-to-eat foods and in kitchen and food storage areas;
• Equipment, food-contact surfaces and utensils were not clean to sight and touch;
• Physical facilities were neither maintained nor cleaned;
• Handwashing sink was obstructed and not supplied with disposable towels;
• Refrigerated foods were not separated and protected to prevent cross-contamination;
• No Certified Safe Food Handler was on-site during operations.

Pancho & Lefty’s is located at 75-5725 Ali‘i Drive and operated by Kailua-Kona Restaurants Inc.

The business must remain closed until the health department conducts a follow-up inspection and all critical violations are resolved.

Pancho & Lefty’s has been ordered to to take the following corrective actions:

• Discard all contaminated food products;
• Have a professional pest control operator perform service and submit the service report to the DOH;
• Complete a deep cleaning and disinfection of all food- and non-food contact surfaces;
• Retrain employees on proper food storage requirements;
• Ensure all handwashing stations are unobstructed and equipped with disposable towels;
• Ensure at least one employee with a valid Safe Food Handler certificate is on duty during operational hours.

The operator has been told to contact the DOH for a follow-up inspection when all violations have been corrected.