INDIANAPOLIS — Videos posted on social media over the weekend prompted the Marion County Public Health Department to shut down a northeast side food mart.
The videos, which were provided to WTHR and have now been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, show pans of food laying on the floor of Jordan's Fish-Chicken-Sandwiches and what appears to be workers in the kitchen preparing food with no shoes on.
Monday morning, an inspector posted a sign on the front door, saying the location at the corner of 42nd Street and Post Road is closed until further notice. Community leaders say the situation fuels a bigger problem with access to food in low-income neighborhoods.
The convenience store eatery carries the same name as another restaurant chain in Indy, but the owners of the original Jordan’s Fish and Chicken say they have nothing to do with the business in the videos. A project manager with the original Jordan's brand says she is disgusted by the images and wants to make sure people know that this location is not part of their group of stores.
The man who shot the videos said he was in the store to pick up an order on New Year's Eve when he looked into the kitchen and saw the disturbing way food was being prepared. The videos show metal trays of food sitting on the floor, workers wearing no shoes stepping over them, and a mouse strolling across the floor of the convenience store area.
A health department inspector acted on complaints Monday morning and posted the suspension of the store’s operating license at 10:20 a.m. on the front door of the business.
MCPHD provided the following statement:
"The Marion County Public Health Department attempted to perform an inspection this morning at the Jordan’s Fish-Chicken-Sandwiches located at 4175 N. Post Road in Indianapolis based on a complaint from Sunday evening. When an MCPHD inspector visited this morning at the restaurant’s posted opening time, the building was locked, and no employees were present. While there, the inspector noticed a large amount of spilled grease in an area outside of the restaurant. Based on this violation and the nature of the initial complaint, the health department suspended the operating license for this location and a notice was placed on the front door. An inspection and approval from MCPHD Food and Consumer Safety will be needed before the restaurant can legally reopen and resume serving the public. MCPHD will continue to monitor."
Community leaders gathered outside the store Monday morning calling for the business to remain closed for good.
"This is unacceptable to have our residents and customers and constituents eating food off the floor at their restaurant,” said City-County Councilor La Keisha Jackson, who serves District 14 where the business is located. “What? Mice running by, no shoes on, just poor business. Period."
"Myself and everybody here today do not want these people to be in business in this location in our community at all,” said City-County Councilor Keith Graves, representing District 13, near where the business operates. “So, we're here to shut them down — no minced words about that. We don't want them operating in our community based on what we saw on the video."
Christina Hodgeson also showed up Monday morning at the store to defend the reputation of the original Jordan’s locations in Indianapolis. Hodgeson said this location is a knockoff just using the Jordan’s name.
"We don't want people to use our name and do things like they did in that video and treat people the way that they treat people and disrespect people,” said Hodgeson, a project manager for Jordan’s. “So that's not good."
No one answered the phone at the store Monday and the voice mailbox is full. 13News looked up the business owners, but could not track them down Monday. The business name is listed with the Indiana Secretary of State as Jordan's Fish and Chiken Corporation, with "chicken" misspelled.
The store is in a food desert on the east side of Indianapolis where residents are desperate for quality food and grocery options. But residents don't want food served in their neighborhood by this business owner ever again.