Update: Sushi Land Re-Opens After Health Department Closure

Update, 4 p.m. Tuesday: Sushiland has re-opened, according to the King County Health Department's web pages.

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Update, 4 p.m. Friday: A spokesperson from the King County Department of Health tells Redmond Patch the issues found by inspectors at the Bella Bottega Sushi Land go beyond problems stemming from a malfunctioning refrigerator.

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Katie Ross said the investigation into the conveyor-belt style sushi restaurant was prompted by complaints of foodborne illness that were reported by parties not affiliated with Sushi Land. 

“As a result our environmental health divison did an investigation...and the refrigerator was not the only issue,” Ross said. For example, she said, an employee was observed not washing his hands properly.

A Patch user claiming to be a company representative posted a message below this post earlier on Friday saying the investigation began after restaurant officials discovered a refrigerator was malfunctioning and contacted the health department.

"We are on track to reopening the store sometime today with the green light from the Health Department. We would like to apologize for anyone that was inconvenienced with the closure yesterday," part of the comment stated.

Another Patch reader pointed out Sushi Land has been cited for various violations before and called the restaurant's explanation "fishy."

Ross said she does not have any information on when the restaurant might re-open. Redmond Patch has attempted to contact Sushi Land via phone and email and will update this post with any response.

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Original post, 7 p.m. Thursday: Redmond's location was closed by the King County Health Department on Thursday afternoon after officials allegedly discovered a series of health code violations.

According to a report from the health department, the following violations were found at the restaurant:

• Potentially hazardous foods at unsafe temperatures
• Inadequate facilities to control temperature of potentially hazardous food
• Poor personal hygiene practices
• Handwashing facilities unavailable
• Imminent health hazard: Suspected foodborne illnesses consistent with observed red critical violations

Sushi Land is a chain of restaurants that serve sushi on conveyor belts in Oregon and Washington.

This story will be updated when the restaurant has reopened.