The name Gourmet Garden suggests a fine dining experience, but what's sprouted up here is not something that makes you want to sit down to eat. The inspection reports for this Columbia restaurant show this spot has a pest problem, with roaches and mice enjoying the fruits of labor.
Locals, including Kristen Williams, tell us those pests are part of the reason they’ve avoided this place for years. She says, "They have roaches, they're dirty and not too clean." We saw evidence of that in their inspection file. We're going neighborhood by neighborhood, looking at places with the biggest number of violations and the consistent patterns we've seen in reports dating back to 2006.
And although their record shows no major problems in 2006, in 2007 this place took a bad turn with a roach infestation forcing them to close down at one point. They had a total of two closures in 2007 and their pest problems piled up, with new violations in five of their six inspections in 2007 and 2008.
The paperwork shows those little brown bugs came falling out of the paper towel holders on one inspection, were found on a food prep table during another inspection and inside a microwave on the most recent visit. In April of last year, an inspector told management that they were doing better. But in two visits since then, mice droppings made their way into the report along with the roaches.
We took a trip to Gourmet Garden to ask questions but an employee told us the manager and owner were not available. A translator later called to say they didn't need to comment about their history. As for customers like Kristen, some are willing to find out if the Gourmet Garden has turned over a new leaf. Williams says, "I'm hoping it'll be okay. If it's not then we're going to have some problems."
