Mitchell eatery serving food again; health code violations fixed

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A Mitchell restaurant is again serving food this week after shutting down food service for two weeks because of a health code violation.

Jim Causey, co-owner of Signatures, said the restaurant had water leaking in the dining room and kitchen. Because of the leaks, Causey said he was told by a representative from the South Dakota Department of Health to stop serving food until the necessary repairs were made.

“He basically said ‘Either I’m going to close you or you’re going to agree to do this,’ ” Causey said Friday.

Causey estimates more than $20,000 was spent to repair the roof and do other repairs in the business.

Earlier this week, Clark Hepper, director of the state’s Office of Health Protection, said a local restaurant has been under investigation “for at least a couple of months” for at least one health code violation.

Hepper was not available for comment Friday.

Causey said the roof has been a problem for him and other owners since the business was purchased approximately three years ago.

When work began on the roof this year, workers found layers and layers of “patching,” Causey said.

“They patched it and patched it and patched it,” Causey said. “It took us that long to get things torn down to where we could fix it.”

Causey said all the restaurant’s cooks — and Causey himself — are ServSafe certified. ServSafe is a program that offers certification after participants take part in training and testing.

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