MayaBazaar Restaurant Caught Operating While License Revoked
(Crystal A. Proxmire, April 15, 2022)
Farmington Hills, MI – Just weeks after being closed down by Oakland County Health Division for months of ongoing health and safety violations, police discovered the MayaBazaar was continuing to operate their restaurant. MayaBazaar, an Indian carryout restaurant in Farmington Hills, had their license revoked on March 16.
Oakland County Public Information Officer Bill Mullan said “Oakland County Health Division received an anonymous complaint last week that MayaBazaar restaurant was bringing in food and operating on the weekends despite having their food service license recently revoked.
“The Health Division and Farmington Hills Police visited the restaurant on Friday, April 8 and substantiated the complaint. The Health Division issued another cease and desist letter to the restaurant, which had to discard the food.
“The Health Division is not aware of any further incidents at the restaurant. The Health Division continues to work with MayaBazaar on implementing the 16 requirements it must meet in order to apply for a new food service license.”
When asked about the police visit, MayaBazaar owner Tejas Madireddi said “We weren’t selling food at all. The food we were making at the restaurant was for my daughter’s birthday. We weren’t selling any food. We haven’t been open since the license was revoked.”
The restaurant previously had posted on Facebook that they were closed due to a water leak. That post appears to have been removed after Oakland County Times ran the story about the reasons behind the closure.
A review of a year’s worth of health inspection reports shows repeated violations that were not corrected, including using an unapproved storefront next door for food storage, not using date stickers on food, serving food that was expired, storing food on the floor and improperly storing raw meats next to and above ready to eat foods, issues with insects, and other issues of cleanliness and safety.
At the time of the closure, Mullan told Oakland County Times “Since it opened in March of 2019, Oakland County Health Division sanitarians have visited the restaurant numerous times. Most of Oakland County’s 4,500-plus licensed food service establishments receive two inspections a year.”
“Food service inspections are an opportunity to educate restaurant owners, managers, and staff on the best practices of food safety to protect public health by preventing food-borne illnesses,” Mullan said.
“During an inspection, Oakland County Health Division gives restaurants a reasonable amount of time to correct violations before returning for a follow-up visit. Most Oakland County restaurants correct violations within that period. Food service license revocation is rare and a measure of last resort when a restaurant consistently fails to implement corrections to violations found during inspections.
When asked about the timeline for re-opening, Madireddi said “We have corrected all our violations and are working with the Oakland County to fulfill all the recommendations. We hope we will open back up sooner than later,”
MayaBazaar is located at 30701 W 12 Mile Rd. Oakland County Times will do a follow up when they re-open. To keep up with the latest news, sign up for daily headlines. If you value the work we do here at Oakland County Times, please sign up to Make a Monthly Pledge.
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Inspection Reports Show Violations Leading to MayaBazaar Restaurant’s Closure (April 6, 2022)
