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Board upholds DPH revocation of Louis California Chinese Cuisine permit
Summary
The Board of Appeals upheld the Department of Public Health's March 14 revocation of a restaurant permit for Louis California Chinese Cuisine by a 4-0 vote, after DPH presented inspection photos documenting recurring rodent and cockroach infestations and repeated abatement attempts.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals upheld on April 25 the Department of Public Health's decision to revoke the operating permit for Louis California Chinese Cuisine (Guo Sheng Li), citing repeated, severe sanitation and pest violations.
Terrence Hong, a senior environmental health inspector, said inspections showed a return of prior violations and a deterioration of conditions. "The condition of the restaurant I found, in a word, was negligent," Hong said, describing multiple inspections that found rodent droppings in the dining room, "2 dead rats" in the kitchen area and an estimated "100 or 200, cockroaches" under a freezer unit during a February inspection. He told commissioners the owner had been to three abatement conferences and the director revoked the permit after repeated recidivism.
The appellant, represented by a translator, submitted a recent pest-control report and said construction next door reduced business and contributed to conditions; he said he would continue cleaning and asked for another chance. Public commenters from the Chinatown community also urged leniency and noted the restaurant—s role in neighborhood life.
DPH officials said they attempted extensive outreach and offered assistance, conducted multiple inspections in a short period and arranged bilingual support and pest-control efforts; they said the violations persisted. Richard Lee, director of environmental health regulatory programs, said the department typically requires facilities seeking to reopen to meet full code standards and that in this case reapplication would be unlikely without major operator changes.
President Michael Garcia moved to uphold the department's revocation "for the reasons stated in the DPH order." The motion carried 4-0. The board recorded that DPH had followed its due-process procedures and that repeated, severe public-health violations justified revocation.
What happens next: DPH may decide whether to allow reapplication; the appellant may seek other legal remedies outside the administrative hearing process.
