Health inspectors respond to complaint filed against Imagine Vegan Cafe
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - Shelby County Health Department inspectors responded to a complaint filed on the Imagine Vegan Cafe after a customer gave the restaurant a 2-star review on Google. The review created a social media firestorm and Shelby County Health Department said it continued to receive complaints about the cafe since the incident went viral.
The owner of the restaurant publicly responded to the customer's review on Facebook by saying it's a family restaurant and her four children are often there during business hours.
The complaint to the health department said children were running around in the restaurant and the youngest was running around the establishment nude.
Inspectors went to Imagine Vegan Cafe, located at 2155 Young Avenue, on Friday to investigate the allegations.
According to the inspection report, four children were inside the restaurant. The ages ranged from 22 months to 15 years old. One child was sleeping and the other three were watching TV.
Health investigators found no violations at the restaurant and noted the children were not near the food prep or cooking areas.
"It's people making it a much bigger deal than what it really is," Imagine Vegan Cafe owner Adam Jeffrey said. "The health department is in here regularly. We've never scored below the 90s, always mid to upper 90s."
Kristie Jeffrey, who also owns the restaurant, said her child did take her clothes off and one point.
"She pulled a little baby stunt. She was like, 'It's summer, it's hot, I'm ripping my clothes off and I'm running,'" she explained.
Previous health inspection scores reflect the restaurant has maintained high scores and a compliance with rules and regulations regarding food safety.
Imagine Vegan Cafe scored a 98 during its last two regular inspections on March 24 and April 30. It had only minor violations.
You can read the notes from the inspector, as well as view the previous two inspection reports, below:
The restaurant's owners said they would have preferred the customers to contact them directly with her complaints instead of posting the negative review.
"I don't care when anybody else gets offended. This is what happened, deal with it," Kristie said.
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