Exposing Local Mexican Eating Establishments, Bar Louie, Panera Bread, Other Restaurants, and Food Pantries in Virginia
![]() |
Just another Tuesday 2025. Oya Obinidodo. All rights reserved |
Today, I decided I'd visit another food pantry, since the first one I went to last week, had expired meat. I was in search of some fresh meat, and I found it, but first let me share the two dreams I had before I woke up.
The bad dreams from the night before and morning of
In one of the dreams I was somewhere and ran into my opps. After I left, I realized that my wallet was missing. I went back to the place where my wallet was, and it was returned to me, with no money in it and no credit or debit cards in it. I was upset, and knew that my opps did it. When I started complaining, my opps denied any involvement. I started screaming and then I woke up from the dream.
In the second dream, I was on my way to a food pantry and then a group of gay butch women started telling people that I was eating out of a trashcan - something I've never done in my entire life. I'm not a dog, I'm a human being, and I'm no where near that gross. I was so mad that the lesbian butches were lying on me. In the dream they looked scary. They looked like feces. After they told the lies, people started to believe them and that's when I woke up. It was a very scary dream.
On the way to the Food Pantry
After I woke up, I went to another food pantry, one I've never been to. I was able to get a bunch of fresh frozen meat- chicken and catfish. The meat doesn't expire until December of this year. I was also able to get two bottles of off brand grape juice, and ready-to-eat beef stew. Then I left that food pantry and went back to the one I had went to the first time. I told them that I didn't need any meat ( because I knew it was way past expired) and I just picked up a few other things that weren't expired. Then I left.
After I did all of that, I thought to myself - what's wrong with these food pantries? They seem too good to be true. There has to be a flaw somewhere, and I then I found it. While I was eating a bag of off brand Cheetos that don't expire until December of this year, I thought to myself again - I wonder do they have roaches? Did a roach crawl on my bag of Cheetos? Then I stopped eating the off brand Cheetos mid thought and searched google.
I searched for "Do food pantries in VA get health inspections?" And the answer is no, they are exempt to health inspections from the VDH (Virginia Department of Health). The VDH only inspects restaurants and retail food stores - not food pantries. They only get an inspection of they receive a consumer complaint.
While I may not know if the pantries are clean or not, while I was inside of the two that I visited, I didn't see anything crawling around. It was just a thought. A thought that I'll always have if I'm eating food from a food pantry.
Dirty Dining in VA
I did so much research, that I found the health inspections website for Virginia, an important resource, allowing me to search for the inspection reports of any restaurant in VA. The link is below in the reference section. I searched for one of my favorite restaurants, Panera Bread, and they had a major health violation just four months ago. I was so disappointed. I don't think I want to eat there anymore. If I was to eat out, I would only want to eat at the cleanest places. I'm not going to mention the restaurants that passed inspection that I still actually eat at, because it's still not safe.
I also looked up the restaurant that I ate at on Black Friday last year and they had a few major sanitation issues within the past 24 months. Their inspection report looked like crap compared to some of the cleaner Mexican restaurants. Some of them have no violations, corrections, or issues at all. The food at Gran Maya Mexican Grill Virginia Beach won't all that good anyway, that's why I ended up having a solo picnic and making my own carne asada tacos. I should've did that at first.
First off, I went to the wrong Gran Maya. I had meant to make reservations at the brand new one in Norfolk. Secondly, while I was at the Gran Maya, I didn't mean to eat off of those plates. I did ask for a plastic fork, but I forgot to ask for a takeout plate and a styrofoam cup. I don't like eating off plates and using utensils that other people have used. I'm big on using my own utensils and my own dishes.
Below is a list of other local restaurants with health code violations. I used to like these restaurants, but I don't anymore. They're obviously filthy. Thanks to the VDH list of Health Districts on their website, I no longer have to go inside of restaurants that would cause me to make a complaint - I avoid them and mind my business.
Other restaurants with multiple health code violations and corrections
References
“Health District Sites.” District Sites | Virginia Department of Health | My Health Department. Accessed January 21, 2025. https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/virginia/districts.
“Bar Louie.” Inspection. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/va-hampton/inspection/?inspectionID=BD8BA3A1-87EF-4E51-A519-ED142FEFD972.
“Rick’s Cheese Steak Shop.” Inspection. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/va-peninsula/inspection/?inspectionID=36D0EB27-2F00-498F-A28E-396BAB70D044.
“Sunrise Pizzeria (01-6062).” Inspection. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/va-virginia-beach/inspection/?inspectionID=D13B9C9B-B878-4AB1-8E35-6155A2E9A916.
“Gran Maya Mexican Grill (01-0730).” Inspection. Accessed January 21, 2025. https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/va-virginia-beach/inspection/?inspectionID=ADBA48B6-9452-4DE2-9A19-C140F05D8B24.
“Panera Bread #1617.” Inspection. Accessed January 21, 2025. https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/va-western-tidewater/inspection/?inspectionID=A9E9EF03-8A5D-4961-9D33-51F0B964520C.
“Juan’s Mexican Cafe & Cantina.” Inspection. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/va-hampton/inspection/?inspectionID=C3F1AE07-EC8A-4EDB-AA42-B8B921AD614F.
““.