Canton public health agency orders new Mexican restaurant closed for code violations

Bev Shaffer, Canton Repository
·2 min read
Tekila Mexican Restaurant in Canton has been ordered to cease operations until a satisfactory Canton City Public Health inspection is completed.
Tekila Mexican Restaurant in Canton has been ordered to cease operations until a satisfactory Canton City Public Health inspection is completed.

CANTON – Canton City Public Health has ordered the new Tekila Mexican Restaurant to close because of code violations. The eatery has been open for only about a month.

The health agency issued an emergency "cease and desist" order against the restaurant on Thursday, saying operations will not resume until a satisfactory inspection is conducted.

Business partners and owners Eder Rodriguez and Carlos Leon opened the restaurant last month at the site of the former John's Bar & Grille at 2749 Cleveland Ave. NW. Although they spent 1 ½ years revitalizing the building with cleaning, electrical work and plumbing, the health department violations were significant.

Canton City Public Health cited violations that included food in a walk-in cooler out of temperature, sewage backup inside the kitchen, plumbing leaks and a full grease trap. The restaurant has been ordered to cease operation, remove all food from the premises, clean and sanitize all areas previously used for food preparation and cooking, and correct the cited violations.

New Mexican restaurant in Canton: New Tekila Mexican Restaurant opens in Canton in former John's Bar & Grille location

“Both Carlos and I have worked in restaurants a long time, and we have seen walk-in coolers break down," Rodriguez said. "Since we have taken over the location, we have been working to keep up with the plumbing. Plumbing leaks and sewer backups are results of years of problem build up.

“The building had not been used for several years before we moved in. These problems can happen suddenly. To make the necessary corrections, we worked with a few plumbing companies over the weekend.”

Rodriguez indicated that the walk-in cooler temperature situation has been fixed and is now holding the correct temperature. Other issues requested in the violation letter have either been fixed or are being completed.

Both Rodriguez and Leon hope that this situation doesn’t hurt their reputation, and customers will return once they are cleared to reopen.

Reach Bev at bshaffer@gannett.com or 330-580-8318.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Tekila Mexican Restaurant ordered to close by Canton health department