John McCain's "Favorite" Vietnamese Restaurant Pho Bang has Roaches: Gross Out!

By Amy Silverman And now we bring you a Special Election Edition of Gross Out! For years, the west Phoenix restaurant Pho Bang has touted itself as John McCain's favorite Vietnamese joint. So we decided to research health inspections at Pho Bang and see if we can recommend it. Um,...

By Amy Silverman

September 23, 2008

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By Amy Silverman And now we bring you a Special Election Edition of Gross Out!

For years, the west Phoenix restaurant Pho Bang has touted itself as John McCain's favorite Vietnamese joint. So we decided to research health inspections at Pho Bang and see if we can recommend it.

Um, NO. A June 2008 report (the most recent) by Maricopa County restaurant inspectors reveals myriad concerns, to the extent that the county has threatened to take legal action to shut the restaurant down if conditions don't improve.

Among the many bad marks on the "No Award" report:

REACH-IN SHELF HEAVILY SOILED WITH DRIED ORGANIC MATTER AND CELERY AND OTHER READY TO EAT ITEMS STORED DIRECTLY ON SHELF. MICROWAVE HAS HEAVY ORGANIC MATTER ACCUMULATION.

WALLS, LIGHT SWITCHES, CEILINGS, DOORS, SHELVES, BEHIND/UNDER EQUIPMENT ALL HEAVILY SOILED.

And....

SEVERAL DEAD ROACHES IN THE STORAGE ROOM ON THE FLOOR.

Even the can of Raid was improperly stored.

Amy Silverman is the former managing editor of Phoenix New Times. She is a two-time winner of the Arizona Press Club’s Journalist of the Year award. Her work has appeared on the radio show This American Life and in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Lenny Letter, and Brain, Child.

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