On the same day Omakase Restaurant Group was celebrating the splashy launch of its new 50,000-square-foot South San Francisco food hall, a city health inspector was busy shutting down the group’s Dumpling Time outpost at Chase Center. The SF Department of Public Health filed a closure report on June 16 after a routine inspection at 191 Warriors Way — the Thrive City location right next to the Chase Center arena — turned up live mice running through the kitchen, rodent droppings on food storage boxes and flour bags, and chewed-through food packaging throughout the back of the house. The permit was immediately suspended, and the restaurant was ordered closed on the spot.
The violations were severe enough to trigger two enforcement actions simultaneously: an immediate health permit suspension and a voluntary condemnation order, according to the inspection report filed by SFDPH inspector Roy Bwogi. The person in charge — identified in the report only as “Cindy” — refused to sign the acknowledgment, though she did cooperate during the inspection itself, voluntarily discarding contaminated food and managing to trap four mice while the inspector was still on the premises. Three more were observed still running loose in the back kitchen area.
What the Inspector Found
Under violation #23 — “No Insects, Rodents, Birds or Nonservice Animals” — the report documents the inspector observing three live mice in the back kitchen and several accumulations of mice droppings on top of food storage boxes, flour bags, and other items. Under violation #13, multiple food packages were documented as having been chewed and gnawed on; the person in charge voluntarily discarded those items on site. The closure notice, which carries the weight of California Health and Safety Code sections 114405 and 114409, means the restaurant must remain shut until every condition warranting closure is corrected and a SFDPH representative signs off on reinspection.
The report also flagged two additional non-closure violations. Under #43 (Vermin Proofing), gaps were found at the bottoms of both the front and side entrance doors — the probable entry point for the rodents. Under #44 (Floors, Walls, and Ceiling), holes were documented in the walls of the private dining area, with the inspector noting that all such gaps, cracks, and crevices throughout the facility need to be sealed to prevent further vermin access. There is a partial mitigating note buried at the end of the report: the facility had an active IPM pest control service contract, with the most recent service conducted just four days earlier, on June 12.
The Irony of the Timing
The closure came on the same morning that Omakase Restaurant Group — the Kash Feng-led group that owns Dumpling Time along with Michelin-starred Omakase and Niku Steakhouse — was generating glowing press for the opening of its six-concept Omakase World Market food hall in South San Francisco. That project, developed in partnership with BioMed Realty at the Gateway of Pacific life-science campus, brings together The Butcher Shop by Niku, Campo, Cuisinett, Dumpling Time, Ichiba by Omakase, and Kyoto Senses under one 50,000-square-foot roof, according to Hoodline. Kash Feng was quoted in the food hall’s launch materials saying, “Great food creates community.” It’s a more complicated message when a Dumpling Time location has a rodent infestation the same day…