Woman Says She Found Cockroach In Houlihan's Chicken
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Houlihan's has been a popular bar and restaurant in Station Square for decades.
This week, a young woman decided to purchase a birthday treat for her cousin, carry out thai chicken. But she says when she went home, she found a cockroach in the chicken.
She doesn't want to be identified, but she spoke to Paul Martino about her claims:
Paul Martino: What's your reaction when you see this roach in your chicken?
Woman: It makes me angry. It's sickening. My stomach was hurting. I didin't want to eat anymore. I still don't want to go out to restaurants and get any more food.
She recorded the chicken shortly after opening it up and sent the video to KDKA.
A regional manager for Houlihan's tells KDKA they called their pest management control company first thing this morning. After the workers checked the restaurant out, they say there were no cockroaches there.
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But an Allegheny County Health Department inspection in July of last year revealed a "high risk" from pest management problems at Houlihan's. They found live cockroaches at the drink station and near the salad dressing station. A subsequent inspection found the roaches were cleared.
"We take complaints very seriously. The public is out there. They're our eyes and ears when we're not there. And we have to rely on those eyes and ears," said Donna Scharding with the Allegheny County Health Department.
The health department is investigating this latest claim and will inspect Houlihan's in the next few days.
A statement from the company meantime appears to question the customer's claim saying "the customer did not return the food order to us, but rather claimed a pest in their food via a picture..." and "we issued a full refund." They also said they have preventative pest control in place.
The young lady making the claim says Houlian's has been calling her:
"They're calling me and telling me basically that it's my fault and that I put the roach there, which I didn't. The pictures and the video both show you that it clearly wasn't me. It's like cooked in there," she said.
So should you eat there? This is what the health department says:
"Proceed with caution."
