Customers of the Rainbow Buffet restaurant at the West End Plaza on Route 209 in Brodheadsville are stopped in their tracks at the door with a sign that reads, "Closed By Order" of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services as of March 28.

The sign says it is "temporarily closed" due to the violation of "insect/rodent infestation."The restaurant is owned by Shao Rainbow Restaurant Inc. A call placed to the restaurant resulted in a recording saying the line was no longer in service.Nicole L. C. Bucher, deputy press secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, said she didn't have a record of the March 28 violation as of yet, but said this is not the first notice of violation for the restaurant.On Nov. 19, 2013, food inspector LeRoy Miller noted 14 violations:The person in charge does not have adequate knowledge of food safety as evidenced by this noncompliant inspection.Also, employees observed in kitchen area not wearing proper hair restraints, such as nets, hats; raw shellstock located in the walk-in refrigerator did not have any identification tag attached to the container; raw chicken was stored above ready to eat foods in the walk-in refrigerator.Other violations were scoops being stored in bulk food bins in direct contact with the food; wet wiping cloths in kitchen area were not being stored in sanitizer solution; food stored directly on the floor in walk-in and kitchen area, rather than 6 inches off the floor as required; chicken was held at 92°F, in the hot holding unit area, rather than 135°F or above as required/ Shrimp was held at 87°F, in the hot holding unit area, rather than 135°F or above as required.Cooked chicken was held at 65°F, on the food prep table in the kitchen area, rather than 41°F or below as required; potentially hazardous ready-to-eat food prepared in the food facility and held for more than 48 hours, located in the walk-in refrigerator, are not being date marked.Self-serve hand dipped ice cream, no long handle scoops are available for consumers to use; west wall in the dining room by the hot holding unit has an accumulation of black mold, wall is peeling and flaking; employee rest room does not have a self-closing door; evidence of rodents/insect activity in can storage area, but facility does not have a pest control program; new food facility in operation more than 90 days and has not employed a certified food employee as required.Another inspection was held on Nov. 26, 2013, and Miller noted that the restaurant was still not in compliance with food employees not wearing proper hair restraints and wet wiping cloths in the kitchen area not being stored in sanitizer solution.An inspection was conducted Jan. 16, 2014, and Miller cited the restaurant for "a black moldlike substance on the south and east walls, also observed moldlike substance on the metal bars holding up the ceiling tiles; observed a black moldlike substance on all the vents in the ceiling in the dining room; new food facility in operation more than 90 days and has not employed a certified food employee as required.