A mobile food truck and a “brokered” food stand, both in Bellevue, WA, remain closed after being shuttered last month by Public Health. The Seattle-King County agency reports its most recent restaurant closure was Tacos El Guero mobile food truck.

Public Health ordered Tacos El Guero to shut down shortly before noon Friday, May 31, because it was operating a mobile food truck without a valid permit and it has not submitted plans for review and approval.

The closure order is for vehicle license plant number C39468D. Tacos El Guero, based out of 3380 146th Place SW in Bellevue, has another food establishment by the same name that is operating legally, according to Public Health.

A brokered food stand operated by Lish Inc. at 929 108th Ave in Bellevue remains closed after being shut down on May 7 by Public Health.

When it was ordered to cease doing business, Lish Inc. was operating without a valid permit, without handwashing facilities, and without proper hot holding for potentially hazardous foods.

Lish Inc. is a licensed food establishment in Seattle. Its operation in Bellevue was reportedly a brokered food stand that partners with local restaurants to offer a limited menu at the food stand.

“The broker, in this case, was the Lish food establishment, which provided the infrastructure including stand and food-related equipment, point of sale technology, and smartphone app,” according to Public Health. “The partner restaurant prepares, transports, and serves food at the food stand that typically operates in office buildings anywher from 1-5 days per week.”

Each day the stand offers customers in office buildings food options from a different restaurant, giving them, over a week’s time, a variety of food choices.

Public Health said the Lish-brokered food stand was ordered to close because of the specific violations it cited.

Seattle-King County Public Health is one of the largest metropolitan health departments in the United States, with a population of about 2.2 million people. It has a staff totaling about 1,400, operating out of 40 sites.

Public Health orders the immediate closure of restaurants for any one of several reasons, including:

High scores on a routine inspection.

No hot or running water.

No electricity.

Other imminent health hazards, including broken refrigeration, accident or natural disaster damages or when the establishment is linked to an outbreak of foodborne illness.

No operating permit or owner/manager interferes with the inspector’s ability to carry out their duties.

A 400 point inspection system is used by inspectors in King County. The violations are added up between red and blue violations. Restaurants are closed for chalking up more than 90 red points or more than 120 blue points.

By Dan Flynn