Hong Kong Clay Pot Restaurant has been a Chinatown fixture since 1998 — a second-floor walk-up on Grant Avenue that The Infatuation gave a 7.8 and described as “an oasis of well-priced, well-sized, and well-seasoned clay pot dishes,” recommending you “show up with a group as big as a boy band.” Regulars cite the seafood clay pot, the beef chow fun, and the spicy jellyfish with pineapple. The staff speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. Family-owned, affordable, genuinely beloved. On April 7, 2026, inspector Michael Mooney from the San Francisco Department of Public Health walked in and found cockroaches along the kitchen ceiling conduit, Raid under the counter, what appeared to be rodent poison under the dish machine, and a ware washing machine that was producing no sanitizer. The permit was suspended and the closed placard went up.
What the Inspection Found
The cockroach finding is the most detailed in the report, which runs four pages. Approximately 15 to 18 cockroaches were observed along the ceiling conduit above the three-basin sink and prep tables on the Grant Avenue side of the kitchen. One dead cockroach was found on a shelf above the sink with dishes, along with a cockroach egg. Heavy evidence of cockroach droppings was documented along the conduit on the ceiling and where framing meets the wall above the sink. The inspector recommended advanced remediation methods including ULV fumigation, crack and crevice treatment with a flushing agent and vacuum, insect growth regulators, and dusting of voids — language that signals a well-established infestation rather than a recent incursion, per the SFDPH inspection database.
Then there’s the self-treatment problem, which is the same pattern seen in other recent SF closures. Inspectors found cans of Raid — consumer-grade residential insect spray — stored under the counter. They also found what appeared to be a plate of crumbled rodent poison on the floor under the dish machine. Consumer pesticides cannot legally be used in food facilities; rodent poison placed directly on the floor near food equipment is a contamination hazard in its own right. The citation under violation 29 directed the operator to immediately remove both and use only licensed pest control…