TAMPA - Christine Kremer says she doesn't always believe what she reads on the menu. "I've worked in the restaurant business since 1971 and I know better," said Kremer.
So she was not surprised to hear that state inspectors cited 14 Tampa Bay area restaurants in the last year with critical violations for misleading their customers, with their menus saying one thing and inspectors finding something else in the kitchen.
In a special I-Team Investigation, we discovered Pierogi Grill and Steakhouse on Gulf to Bay Blvd in Clearwater had been written up three times for similar violations.
The restaurant advertises "home-made pierogi," but according to state inspectors, they found pre-packaged, frozen pierogi in the kitchen on March 29, 2011.
So the restaurant changed the menu to say "hand-made" pierogi, but when inspectors returned twice a few months later on June 15 and June 17, they again discovered pierogis pre-made in the kitchen with the word "homestyle" on the packaging.
Pierogi's owner Marek Pietryniak met with me in person, but did not want to go on camera. He said there's been a communication problem between his manager and the inspector and sent us this email which reads in part, "At Pierogi & Grill we do serve homemade pierogies daily to our customers. Since our customers enjoy them so much, sometimes we cannot keep up with the orders and for the reserve we serve pierogies from one of our suppliers. These pierogies are also made by hand and not by a machine" ( see entire response below).
Chen Zheng Happi Wok on County Road One in Dunedin advertises on their menu "crab" in their crab rangoon and seafood delight but inspectors found it was actually imitation crab. Inspectors warned the restaurant twice in the past year on April 6, 2011 and on December 9, 2010 about misleading consumers, documenting the critical violations.
Happy Wok was fined $800 in April and sent us this written response saying in part, "The status of the situation is the menu has been changed one month ago. Instead of crab rangoon, it is now called krab rangoon following the health inspector's instruction" ( see entire response below).
And Tan's Chinese Restaurant on Poinsetta Avenue in Clearwater Beach was cited by inspectors on April 13, 2011 for advertising on their menu "No MSG." But inspectors found a big pan of MSG sitting right next to the grill.
Cindy Feng, the manager at Tan's Chinese did not want to go on camera but admitted to me over the phone, she does have MSG in her kitchen but says it's only for her employees to consume. She says the restaurant does not put it in any customer meals.
But patrons like Kremer think restaurants need to be honest on their menus and disciplined by the state if they don't comply.
"It's false advertising! And when you're involving people's health, its wrong," Kremer said.
More: Entire list of restaurants cited for misleading statements
Scroll down : Entire response from ZhenZhen Zheng, cousin of Happi Wok owner
Entire response from Marek Pietryniak of Pierogi & Grill
Dear Wendy:
At Pierogi & Grill we do serve homemade pierogies daily to our customers. Since our customers enjoy them so much, sometimes we cannot keep up with the orders and for the reserve we serve pierogies from one of our suppliers.
These pierogies are also made by hand and not by a machine. Our customers love our pierogies and 100's of them are served daily. As of today, during the last five years, we never had any complains as to the quality and/or taste of the product.
Some local supermarkets, for example, Sweetbay, offer factory made pierogies but they will never taste the same as our pierogies do. They look completely different and taste with no comparison...
The allegations brought to our attention by the Health Department that we are misleading our customers are false. Our pierogies are made by hand, the same way there were made for centuries at Polish homes. We stand behind our product, its quality, and we are ready to pursue with civil litigation against Heath Department who made statements without knowledge and/or proper investigation.
Marek Pietryniak
****************END response from Marek Pietryniak of Pierogi & Grill
Here: Entire response from ZhenZhen Zheng, cousin of Happi Wok owner
Dear Wendy and fellow T.V Viewers,
“I am responding to your inquiry of the critical violation due to misleading appetizer name from
Happi Wok’s menu. The status of the situation is the menu has been changed one month ago.
Instead of Crab Rangoon, it is now called Krab Rangoon following the health inspector’s
instruction. The reason the owner was fined was because the health inspector gave them a
warning in December, however, due to language barrier and common practice of using Crag
Rangoon as the name in the U.S by most Chinese restaurant, the owner did not acknowledge
how serious the situation was. As result, the owner simply used her pen and changed the letter
from C to K on the menu used on the counter. After
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