Less than a week after the Food Network featured Indianapolis’ historic Steer-In restaurant, the eatery was closed by the Marion County Public Health Department for a string of health code violations.
A fluorescent green paper taped to the Steer-In’s front door around midday Tuesday stated the restaurant was “closed to protect public health and safety,” citing four violations of Title 410 of the Indiana Administrative Code (IAC) 7-24 (Retail Food and Sanitation Requirements). Per the notice, at the time of inspection Steer-In was in violation of 295, 413, 415 and 416.
The restaurant appeared on Jan. 3 on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: Triple D Nation,” in which host and chef Guy Fieri revisits places he has featured in the past. Fieri last stopped at the popular eastside eatery in March 2011.
Why did the Steer-In close?
State law requires that health departments do not publish reports until 10 days after the inspection date, so the exact nature of Steer-In’s violations aren’t clear.
For most health code sections, violations can be critical or non-critical. Critical violations are more likely to result in food contamination and more likely to result in the closure of a restaurant.
Per 410 IAC 7-24, section 295 covers the cleanliness of utensils and food-contact surfaces; section 413 requires that external openings of the restaurants are sufficiently protected from pests; section 415 covers pest control and section 416 requires the frequent removal of dead or trapped pests including insects.
When will the Steer-In reopen?
The Steer-In did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the violations or when the restaurant would reopen.
In a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon, the Steer-In announced it was closed for maintenance and hoped to reopen Thursday evening. However, a post Thursday afternoon said that the restaurant staff would be “working hard through the weekend” to address some “structural issues.”
Contact dining reporter Bradley Hohulin at bhohulin@indystar.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @BradleyHohulin.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Marion County health department closes Steer-In for health violations
