According to Island Health records, Milano’s has been inspected four times since Malhodra purchased the business over a year ago.
The restaurant has maintained a “moderate” health risk since an inspection last December.
A new Monday, Sept. 15 inspection noted “ongoing rodent activity”, with the audit stating more work needed to be done to prevent rodents from entering the building.
Inadequate cooling was noted as an ongoing critical issue, with other non-critical issues related to rodent droppings.
A December 2024 visit to Milano’s flagged “inadequate cooling & refrigerated storage of potentially hazardous food(s)”, as well as fruit flies noted around their beer taps, and other issues considered ‘non-critical.’
Their initial July 2024 inspection noted zero violations recorded, resulting in a ‘low hazard rating’, the lowest of three possible ratings.
However, their most recent inspection was initiated by Malhodra once they became aware of the Reddit post, which had been shared across other social media platforms by then.
Milano’s kitchen manager Cheryl Martin has worked in the location since the doors first opened 27 years ago, then known as Romeo’s.
She said while rodents like mice and rats are not unfamiliar issues on Vancouver Island, they noticed more rodents in the area shortly after the implementation of the Regional District of Nanaimo’s mandatory waste separation bylaw, which came into effect on Jan. 1.
“When we first opened, brand new building, no issues. When the program came in for keeping compost and changing from garbage to food, then we had a problem…when that food thing came in, that changed everything. We’ve had a rodent program since that time.”
She said their pest control contractor sets traps and maintains them weekly, along with taking precautions such as storing vegetables in plastic totes off the ground, regular kitchen cleaning, and taking steps so rodents don’t get into the building in the first place.
But even with twice-weekly garbage pick-up, the amount of organic waste Milano’s produces daily and now having to separate from their regular garbage appears to be too tempting, said Martin.
“This isn’t new. Rodents are an issue, just because of that food factor, and that’s when it all started. Forget about an aging building or any issues with the building, the ones around here and other buildings that I know deal with the same thing, and they’re not unclean, they’re not a bad business.”
Martin said the recurring critical issue of ‘inadequate cooling is related to the large quantity of sauces they make daily being brought down to the correct temperature of 20 degrees Celsius before it can be put into a fridge uncovered, with a cover only allowed once the product has reached four degrees.
This process must be done within a certain timeframe to “reduce the possibility of food-borne illness”, according to Island Health.
Martin said sometimes the sauce ends up in a fridge or walk-in cooler with a cover earlier than intended due to shift changes or recent hires inadvertently putting the sauce in the fridge before it cools to the proper temperature.
While the anonymous Reddit user claims multiple people have contracted food poisoning from Milano’s, Martin said they have heard no reports of their customers getting sick from their food.
She said they have a lot of regular customers who return multiple times a week, who always leave happy and satisfied.
“We are proud of what we do and the food we make and all the work that we go through to make people safe, and we’re always working on it.”
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