On April 8, the Orange County Health Care Agency conducted routine food safety inspections in several restaurants across Orange County. Sushi Ramen was asked to stop its food operations based on rodent activity and other violations. The Japanese restaurant will be inspected again on April 29.
Please note that the result mentioned here is from an inspection conducted on April 8 and may not represent the future health inspection status of the Orange County food establishment.
Highlights
- Orange County-based Sushi Ramen failed a health inspection on April 8.
- The inspection was carried out by the Orange County Health Care Agency.
- Based on the presence of cockroaches and other violations, the Japanese restaurant has been asked to shut down.
Sushi Ramen Failed Health Inspection
Inside view and food dishes at the Japanese restaurant (Source: Google Reviews)
- Where: 25260 La Paz Rd #A, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
- When: April 8, 2025
This Japanese eatery has been serving sushi, sashimi, and ramen dishes to the Laguna Hills community. Other highlights include the Las Vegas roll, black squid ramen, and salmon skin roll.
Sushi Ramen did not pass the routine inspection conducted by the Orange County Health Care Agency. From the presence of rodents to the inoperable lights, inspectors reported multiple violations at the food facility.
What Went Wrong for Sushi Ramen?
The inspection report by the Orange County Health Care Agency highlighted that tofu, chashu pork, chicken, and eggs were kept at 45°F at Sushi Ramen. As the ideal temperature set for such potentially hazardous food items is at or below 41°F, the inspectors called for corrective actions.
Based on their instructions, the staff at Sushi Ramen moved the chashu pork and chicken to a functional cooler. At the same time, tofu and eggs were removed.
Food inspectors next observed dead cockroaches in the food prep area at Sushi Ramen. Egg casings and live nymph cockroaches were found as well in the sink and front service area.
The agency also reported sanitization issues like the availability of sanitizer test strips.
The inspection report then emphasized multiple aspects of poor infrastructure at the Japanese food facility. Inoperable equipment was being used for storage purposes. Inspectors further found inoperable lights in the dry storage area.
Sushi Ramen’s rear facility door was not closed properly, which led to the entry of insects. Apart from this, the air curtain was disconnected at the Orange County food facility. Officials also noted in the report that Sushi Ramen did not have a probe thermometer during their inspection.
Apart from these, food debris and accumulated grease were observed below equipment at the cook’s line, storage area’s shelves, 3-compartment sink, and equipment at the front service area.
The Orange County Health Care Agency ordered Sushi Ramen to close its operations after the many violations in its report. Citing rodent activity, health inspectors asked it to undertake corrective steps. They have also asked the Japanese restaurant to work on the other violations before its reinspection on April 29.
I’m a regular at this restaurant, and honestly, it’s cleaner than most places I’ve been to.
The roach issue, in my opinion, wasn’t due to poor hygiene — their front door has been blocked for a long time because of the landlord, so they’ve had to use the back door, which is right next to a grease trap. That probably contributed to the problem.
Every time I go, I see the staff cleaning, and the inside of the restaurant is always well maintained. They’ve also had regular pest control, so I believe this was more of an isolated situation.
The article feels a bit sensationalized. I trust the owners will take care of it, and hopefully the landlord fixes the front door soon.
For god’s sake, why is there nobody ever talk about this place had a car ran into the front door a year ago, the storefront is still not fixed due to plaza demolition, so the landlord declined the all repair order, what’s wrong with you people, they been trying to continue to stay in business despite without a frontdoor, please have some sympathy toward other people. Also if they were really that bad like this article had mentioned, they would probably got shut down for good, the fact that they were able to open back up the next morning, tells me something sketchy here. I’m not questioning the reliability of the facts here, all I’m saying is that it had to be overexaggerate for content purposes.