Puck, no! Health Department closes Las Vegas Wolfgang Puck restaurant

Posted: January 4, 2025, 06:28 pm.

Last updated: January 4, 2025, 07:23 pm.

It is believed to be the first time a celebrity chef's Las Vegas restaurant has been shut down by the health department. Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at the MGM Grand was closed after a Jan. 2 routine inspection that found several Horrifying findings had emerged. It is expected to reopen on Monday.

The hot lines (where hot food is cooked) and prep kitchens (where ingredients are prepared) of high-end restaurants were the main culprits. The Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) gave them 16 and 15 demerits, respectively, while five other related operations received 0-3.

Both the hot line and prep kitchen received demerits for “effective pest control measures” and “food protected from potential cross-contamination by employees and consumers.” Additionally, the hot line received demerits for “food at proper temperature”, and the prep kitchen received demerits for “food thawed and cooled using proper methods/fruits and vegetables washed before preparation”. , “Chemicals were properly identified, stored and used,” and “Food contact surfaces of equipment were properly cleaned and sanitized.”

In addition to the restaurants, hot lines, and prep kitchens, four additional related food service operations were closed: the bar, server station, butcher shop, and exhibition kitchen.

In total, the SNHD issued 42 demerits to Wolfgang Puck's MGM Grand Operation. If inspections result in 41 or more demerits, or if inspectors find the facility operating under an imminent health hazard, SNHD closes facilities.

what puck?

Puck, 75, was the first celebrity chef to open a restaurant in Las Vegas. When he opened Spago in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in 1992, the Strip was still widely considered a cheap buffet paradise.

The Austrian-born chef's MGM Grand restaurant, which opened in July 2023, was his fifth after Spago at his Vegas empire (which he moved to the Bellagio in 2018), Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at Crystals in CityCenter in 2010, and Wolfgang . Puck Pizzeria & Cucina at Cristals in Citycentre in 2011 and Lupo by Wolfgang Puck at Mandalay Bay in 2013.

SNHD's ongoing list of restaurant closures typically includes unfamiliar names that are only noticed by locals.

However, from time to time a prominent strip property will appear. For example, in September, a room service kitchen at the Bellagio, also an MGM Resorts property, was closed for violations including “sewage or liquid waste not being disposed of in an approved manner.”

However, according to casino.orgAccording to research, the case involving one of the world's most prominent celebrity chefs has never happened before.

For a big casino company like MGM Resorts — which co-owns the restaurant owner Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill — the health department's closure is as embarrassing as the Nevada Gaming Commission's closure.

Typically in this unusual case, fixing all violations is given top corporate priority, heads are quietly turned, and then SNHD is invited back for inspection within 1-2 days which is essentially ” A” rating and erases recognizable names from SNHD. Website.

The MGM Grand's website lists reservations available at the Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill beginning at 11 a.m. on Monday, January 6.

MGM Grand's PR representative did not respond casino.orgRequest for comment.