George’s Paragon Seafood Restaurant in Eagle St fined $15k for cockroaches in kitchen
A popular inner-city Brisbane seafood restaurant has been fined in court after cockroaches and unsanitary practices were found on the premises last year, with the magistrate saying “it’s more than pest control, it’s cleanliness”.
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A popular inner-city Brisbane seafood restaurant has been fined $15,000 after cockroaches were found on the premises, over a year ago.
The company that owns George’s Paragon Seafood Restaurant in Eagle St and director Michael Tassis on Friday pleaded guilty to five Brisbane City Council charges.
The Greek seafood restaurant was shut down for three days in July last year, for deep cleaning, after a BCC food safety audit uncovered cockroach, cleanliness and food storage issues.
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Cockroaches were found in various parts of the restaurant and one photo taken by inspectors showed a cockroach near a food preparation area.
A container of bread rolls was found on the floor, when it should have been on a shelf, during a busy lunch period, Brisbane Magistrates Court heard.
Lawyer Darrell Jardine, for Mr Tassis and family company Tassis Reddy Pty Ltd, said since the food safety audit, the restaurant had upgraded its cleaning and pest control systems.
Mr Jardine said the restaurant was now deep cleaned every 10 weeks and daily cleaning hours had been doubled.
He said lessons had been learnt, the restaurant was doing all it could to prevent any cleaning or pest problems and there had been no issues since last year.
Magistrate Colin Strofield said inadequate cleaning of the restaurant may have brought about the cockroaches.
“It’s more than pest control, it’s cleanliness,” the magistrate said.
The Tassis family has been running restaurants, including the Brisbane seafood restaurant overlooking the Brisbane River, for more than 30 years.
Last year Michael Tassis opened two other Eagle St restaurants, Rico Bar and Dining, under George’s Paragon, and Massimo Restaurant.
Mr Jardine said the cockroach problem may have started when the previous tenant underneath George’s Paragon moved out.
The court heard of the restaurant’s financial woes before and since a COVID-19 shut down of the restaurant, between March and July.
Mr Jardine said Mr Tassis and the company were in a very difficult financial position, running three restaurants, employing 190 staff.
He said before George’s Paragon’s COVID-19 closure, from mid-March until July, the net operating position was “in the negative” and COVID had severely affected it.
Mr Jardine said Michael Tassis was not drawing a wage, his wife, who also works in the business, was on JobKeeper and the restaurant was seeking rent relief.
Mr Strofield fined the company $15,000 and placed Mr Tassis on a 12 months $2500 good behaviour bond, with no conviction recorded.
He took into account the guilty pleas, lack of previous prosecutions and efforts to address issues since the audit.