Thread: Goats gone; eatery reopens

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/525253.html

Mark Schultz, Staff Writer
HILLSBOROUGH - A Mexican restaurant that shut down after a cook slaughtered two goats in a room off the kitchen reopened over the weekend.
A person who works near Bandido's Mexican Cafe, 122 S. Churton St., saw the goats go in Friday afternoon and called police, said Lt. Davis Trimmer of the Hillsborough Police Department.

The cook admitted killing the animals, Trimmer said. But he said the meat was for his personal use, not the restaurant. The cook took the meat home, but remains of the animals were found on the property, which is located in Hillsborough's historic district.

"It's very definitely a health code violation," Trimmer said.

Owner Tony Sustaita was on the road when he learned of the incident. He said he closed the restaurant voluntarily while police and the Orange County Health Department investigated.

"As soon as I found out, I shut down," Sustaita said in an interview Sunday.

The restaurant reopened Saturday at 1 p.m. after Health Department inspections Friday night and Saturday morning.

"There was never any danger of contamination," Sustaita said, adding that no fine was levied.

The cook, who has worked for Sustaita for seven years, has been disciplined but still has a job, he said.

Goat is a traditional holiday food in Mexican culture, but goat meat has never been on the menu at any of Sustaita's four Tex-Mex restaurants in Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough.

"This is a tradition in many Mexican homes," Sustaita said. "This guy just made a bad call. He didn't realize the mistake that it was."

Yep, here comes the 3rd world.

"This guy just made a bad call. He didn't realize the mistake that it was."

Yea Right! Ignorance of the Law is not a Defense.

Slaughtering an animal is so unsanitary!!!!! Not something that should be done in a kitchen.

Dixie

I remember speaking with an American born store owner of Chinese heritage about deer hunting a few years ago. When the conversation turned towards the processing portion of the deer, I mentioned he had all the tools at his disposal in his meat department. He suddenly laughed and stated, "That's all I'd need is to have someone see me dragging a deer carcass inside the store with all of it's hair and fleas getting all over the floor". "I might as well start the liquidation auction right then."

It's not Kosher that's for sure!

Dixie

And the big slaughter plants hire illegal aliens mainly from third world countries. They're less likely to complain about poor working conditions and safety violations. Plus they are not screened for diseases like legal immigrants are.