Toronto residents are alarmed following a popular restaurant remaining open after receiving 11 health code violations.
Diners have taken notice of the latest health inspection update outside of the Cheesecake Factory at Yorkdale Shopping Centre, which reads that the restaurant was given a “conditional pass” by Toronto Public Health.
Dated Oct. 16, the inspection cited a total of 11 infractions against the restaurants including failure to protect food from contamination, inadequate food temperature control and failure to ensure proper employee hygiene.
Crucial infractions, such as pest infestation, lack of safe water, or food contamination are grounds for restaurants to fail inspection, according to DineSafe. The restaurant currently remains open, as a conditional pass is issued when one or more significant infractions are observed during an inspection. The restaurant is given a time frame to correct the violation in this instance.
“We take food safety and sanitation seriously and are committed to providing a safe dining experience,” The Cheesecake Factory said in a statement to Now Toronto on Monday.
“We have taken immediate steps to correct any deficiencies and look forward to our scheduled reinspection tomorrow.”
It is unknown what specific infractions were witnessed at the restaurant.
Diners have since taken to social media to express their concerns about the restaurant remaining open amid the health code violations.
“How many do you have to tick off before they’ll actually shut a place down?” one user on Reddit questioned.
“After seeing this, it just confirms my decision to never go back,” another user wrote. “I really don’t understand how it still passed after all those X’s.”
“They don’t have to close,” a TikTok user on the platform explained. “They’re giving them time to remedy the findings and if they don’t, they will be closed. This happens more often than you think.”
The restaurant opened in Yorkdale back in 2017. Its last health inspection was earlier in March of this year, where it received a full pass.
