Public Health — Seattle & King County closed the Ooba Toooa Restaurant in Redmond on Feb. 20 because facilities were inadequate to control or maintain food temperatures. Redmond, located east of Seattle, is the King County city known for being home to Microsoft, Nintendo of American and a population of about 65,000.

Ooba Tooba, 15802 NE 83rd St., is the third restaurant that Public Health has shut down this year. Two others that were forced to close in January — The Juice Emporium in Seattle and the Gourmet Wok Restaurant and Lounge in Renton — were allowed to re-open, respectively, on Feb. 5 and Feb. 7.

The Juice Emporium’s closure for repairs at 1526 Pike Place came after Jan. 31 sewer backup created an imminent health hazard. Earlier in the month, on Jan. 18, Public Health ordered the Gourmet Wok at 1630 Duvall Ave. NE closed because the walk-in refrigerator was malfunctioning, potentially hazardous foods were being kept at unsafe temperatures, and red critical violations were found exceeding 90 points by inspectors.

Renton is King County’s fourth largest city with more than 100,000 people. It is 11 miles southeast of downtown Seattle.

Countywide, 10 restaurants that were shut down in 2018 by Public Health remain closed. Most of the restaurants that stayed closed had been found operating without a permit,

Public Health – Seattle & King County is one of the largest metropolitan health departments in the United States with 1,400 employees, 40 sites, and a biennial budget of $686 million.

The department serves a resident population of nearly 2.2 million people in an environment of high complexity and scale, with 19 acute care hospitals and more than 7,000 medical professionals. More than 100 languages are spoken in the region, and the Seattle area is an international destination welcoming nearly 40 million visitors annually.

Public Health makes restaurant closures public shortly after they occur through public notices that provide the reasons for the closure action. It keeps closure information online for at least seven days after an establishment re-opens.