BOONVILLE — The Warrick County Health Department temporarily shuttered Boonville’s only McDonald’s this week amid “multiple different health concerns,” prompting the restaurant’s owner to issue a public apology.
As of Tuesday, Aug. 12, signage posted outside the McDonald’s located at 701 W. Locust St. read “CLOSED by the Warrick County Health Department.” A statement posted by Mann Enterprises LLC, which operates the Boonville franchise, said crews were working on “an important maintenance issue.”
During Monday’s Warrick County Commissioners meeting, a health department official said inspectors visited the McDonald’s after receiving “several complaints” and ultimately decided to shut the restaurant down “due to multiple different health concerns.”
“[Inspectors] did go back (Monday) afternoon to check, and it was unfortunately not any better, so they will be shut down for two to three days while they hopefully clean and spray for bug infestations,” the official said.
In response to questions from the Courier & Press, Mann Enterprises co-owner Rick Mann said he did not dispute the health department’s findings. In discussing the matter, Mann struck a conciliatory tone and vowed to immediately rectify any sanitation violations.
“We deeply regret and apologize for this situation,” Mann wrote in an email Tuesday afternoon. “We appreciate our local health department and are working with them to correct this situation promptly and thoroughly. This is embarrassing and humbling. I can’t emphasize enough that we deeply apologize and will use this to be better for this community.”
According to Mann Enterprises’ website, the company owns 11 McDonald’s locations across Southern Indiana, including in Boonville, Newburgh, Evansville and Jasper. The website states Mann Enterprises maintains a “culture of care for each other and our customers.”
The health department’s findings with regard to the Boonville location come after a woman shared a cellphone video to a local Facebook group Sunday evening purporting to show a cockroach inside the McDonald’s. The video had garnered more than 12,000 views as of Tuesday.
Alongside the 24-second video, which depicts a roach scampering across a tiled floor and slipping beneath a doorway, the woman shared a GPS tag she said indicated the video was taken near 701 W. Locust St. at the Boonville McDonald’s.
Mann Enterprises did not dispute the authenticity of the video.
“We regret that any customer would be put in that situation,” Mann said. “We look at customer feedback as an opportunity to be and do better.”
Other online posts purported to substantiate additional sanitation incidents at the Boonville restaurant, including a photograph posted to a community group depicting what appeared to be ants floating in a honey packet.
Kailyn Kahre, a Warrick County Health Officer, told the Courier & Press Tuesday morning the department was “working closely with McDonald’s management to ensure all violations are promptly corrected and that the location meets all health and safety standards before reopening to the public.”
Mann said he personally cut an out-of-state trip short to coordinate sanitation work as soon as he was made aware of the health department’s findings.
“We intend to use this accountability to help us be better,” Mann said. “Something like this happens, (and) we can either make excuses or own it and make corrections that are necessary for success. We are not making excuses. We are and will work very hard to regain trust.”
Houston Harwood can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Official says ‘health concerns’ prompted temporary closure of Boonville McDonald’s
Reporting by Houston Harwood, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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