Poseidon Asian Cuisine In Compliance, Now Open In Paoli: Owner

PAOLI, PA — Poseidon Asian Cuisine in Paoli is in compliance with the Chester County Health Department after an April inspection before the restaurant opened brought a long list of violations.

The owner said that inspection occurred as he was renovating the former RedHound Grille, and before he was even open for business.

The April report on the inspection has been hurting his business, he told Patch. Gary Chi said he had purchased the restaurant from RedHound Grille in 2019 and was in the process of renovating when the coronavirus pandemic happened. "We had to make the painful decision to pause renovation throughout 2020," he said.

"Fast forward to the beginning of this year, we resume renovation to rebuild the restaurant, but because of the condition of the building when RedHound Grille left, it required significant restoration work," Chi explained.

"We called the Health Department to schedule a pre-walkthrough of the building so we can work on all the issues. (The inspector) cited us for the 11 violations because it's required for her to write down, even if it's a preliminary inspection," Chi said.

He said all the violations written up in the April inspections were based on restaurant conditions left behind. "Bear in mind, we hadn't even open for business yet."

Chi said his team got to work day and night to clean everything up from the previous vacant RedHound, all the dust and debris from the constructions, new equipment for the kitchens.

"When we finally were ready to go, we called the department of health for opening inspection on May 6. We passed and decided to have a grand opening date set for May 18," he said.

But Chi said he's had negative feedback because of the previous inspection and the report of the inspection.

"Some have said they will never come to my restaurant because of those violations. COVID-19 has already been a setback for our staffs, employees and their family," he said.

The purpose of restaurant inspections is consumer safety, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture states.

A county health department inspection report posted on the PA Department of Agriculture website shows Poseidon Asian Cuisine was in compliance at its May 6 follow-up inspection and the Department's most recent inspection on July 27 showed only three minor violations.

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