EASTON — Like they did many times in the past, lifelong Easton residents Jessica and Ben Barsomian picked up an order of Chinese takeout from their “go-to” restaurant, Easton Lucky Corner, on May 15, they said.
But unlike usual, when digging into their leftovers a day later, Jessica found a large dead cockroach in her fried rice, she said.
“After eating most of it, I happened to look down and there was the body and the leg sticking out which was very disgusting,” Jessica said, noting that she immediately called the restaurant to report the incident.
“They were apologetic, but they didn’t really seem to care all that much,” she said. “They wanted to give me more food, which was the last thing I wanted and when I asked about a refund, they said they couldn’t do it,” Jessica said.
Restaurant Manager Rachel Mei confirmed in a phone call with The Enterprise that Jessica called the restaurant to report the incident on May 16. According to Mei, the restaurant’s owner offered to give Jessica a 50% refund, which Mei says Jessica never came to get.
The restaurant’s owner was not available for comment at the time The Enterprise spoke with Mei.
Jessica said she also reported the incident to the Easton Board of Health, who conducted an inspection at the restaurant later that same day, according to public records. Here’s what they found.
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Here’s why Easton Lucky Corner fails inspection
On May 16, Easton Health Inspector Tim Meyers conducted an inspection of Easton Lucky Corner after the department received Jessica’s complaint. According to his report, the restaurant was in violation of nine different items of Massachusetts’s minimum sanitation standards for food establishments, including:
- Bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food
- Lack of labels and dates on open food containers
- Improper storage of tools
- Lack of a proper sanitizer bucket
- Lack of food-grade bus tubs
Meyers also noted in the report that the kitchen needed a deep cleaning.
Based on these violations, the restaurant failed the inspection.
Inspector does not find any cockroaches
The restaurant was, however, in compliance with pest regulations and Meyers noted in his report that a pest elimination company comes to the establishment on a monthly basis. Mei said that when the inspector was at the restaurant, he couldn’t find a single cockroach.
A few days later, on May 21, Meyers re-inspected the restaurant and found that all violations had been fixed.
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A history of failed inspections
This wouldn’t be the first time Easton Lucky Corner didn’t pass an inspection.
According to town records, the restaurant was found lacking during inspections in September 2018, September 2019, October 2021, March 2022, October 2022, March 2023 and August 2023.
After each of these failed inspections, the restaurant made the changes necessary to pass re-inspection.
When Jessica Barsomian took to social media to warn other patrons of her experience, she found she wasn’t the only one who said they had found non-food items in their orders, she said.
“There were a few other people who commented saying they found bugs in their food as well,” she said. “Someone even said they found a nail or a screw in their food.”
