Editorial: Ensuring eateries are clean

Monday, Sept. 17, 2001 | 8:25 a.m.

Las Vegas boasts many of the nation's finest restaurants, thanks largely to the emergence of megaresorts along the Strip. At the same time, as our community has mushroomed, the number and variety of neighborhood eateries has grown accordingly.

Hungry residents seeking ethnic food from the Far East now have a wide variety of cuisine to choose from. One cannot drive a short distance without passing an establishment that serves Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese or Korean dishes. But as Las Vegas Sun reporter Angela Soo wrote last week, a rift has developed between many Asian-American restaurant owners and the Clark County Health District, which inspects their establishments.

These restaurant owners allege that inspectors are harder on them than on others because of their ethnic backgrounds. Health district workers say they are merely doing their job and frequently discover many code violations, such as improper food storage. We believe this is one of those issues where both sides have soul searching to do.

Many new restaurant owners who come here from the Far East face language barriers and are unfamiliar with local health codes. Since it is incumbent upon them to know the law, we recommend that the Asian Chamber of Commerce recruit owners of successful local Asian restaurants who speak Far East languages to help give advice to owners of new eateries.

This would assist the health district, which has been unsuccessful in recruiting bilingual inspectors. It would also help the new restaurant owners, because a respected colleague who speaks their language can help show them how to run a clean establishment. Everyone wins, including consumers.

For its part, the health district needs to make sure that none of its inspectors are biased. A five-star establishment deserves no better treatment than the neighborhood diner. Inspectors should use the same criteria when they grade all restaurants.