Employees of a local restaurant were caught on camera washing dishes in an alley behind the pizza place!
A viewer says she was grossed-out by what she saw so she took pictures and sent them to NewsChannel 3 - and we took action.
This happened Friday, at the chain's Military Highway Branch in Norfolk.
The pictures were snapped by a NewsChannel 3 viewer who didn't want to be identified.
"He had a water hose. He would scrub the pans, spray them with the water hose and then pick up the rag off the ground and scrub the pans again and then stacked them on his shoulder and took em inside," said that viewer.
NewsChannel 3 brought this complaint to the Norfolk Health Department.
Manager Agnes Flemming says all restuarants in the city are required to wash, rinse, and sanitize inside their establishment. She also adds that it's against city code to rinse food off into the storm drain because it can attract rodents.
NewsChannel 3 called CiCi's headquarters in Texas. Their vice president released this statement: "Their policy requires all dishes be cleaned in a sink or dishwasher. And that under no circumstances should anyone be cleaning outside."
He also added that a team from the company will investigate the reason why the dishes were washed outside. They will make sure, that every item is properly washed and sanitized.
We're told the health department will also be sending someone to this restaurant to get their own answers about the dishes. They'll also make sure the chain is following city code.
http://video.wtkr.com/global/video/...ormat=flv&clipId1=3649992&at1=News&h1=Norfolk Cici's Washing Dishes Outside
