“My heart goes out to my loyal customers, many of whom were like family to me. My heart is broken over this,” Schlorman said of the restaurant that he and his wife Melissa purchased three years ago. “We never jeopardized our customers’ health in any way, and I took care of my employees.”
Bill Wharton, spokesman for Public Health Dayton & Montgomery County, said his agency “did not close the restaurant,” and that the decision to close was Schlorman’s. The health department had been working with Schlorman on inspection issues that had developed “over a period of time,” Wharton said.
Health department restaurant inspectors visited Bagel Cafe on Aug. 6 based on a complaint and discovered there was no hot water. “Repair the hot water heater immediately since this is grounds for closure,” inspectors wrote on their report, which also noted cleanliness problems and “an abundance of fruit flies and house flies.”
A follow-up visit confirmed that the hot-water problem had been fixed, but noted refrigeration problems, and a few days later, on Aug. 11, an inspection found that “Refrigeration is still not capable or holding food at proper temperature, and ice baths are being used. Air conditioning unit is not working, and establishment is closing early due to the heat.”
Another inspection on Aug. 18 turned up food that was being held at unsafe temperatures, and another follow-up inspection on Aug. 20 informed the Bagel Cafe’s owners, “Mechanical refrigeration is needed immediately to remain in operation.”
Owners closed the restaurant five days later, according to the Bagel Cafe Facebook page. No other inspections were performed after Aug. 18, Wharton said.
“I tried to save a failing business,” Schlorman said. “I tried to save jobs for the city of Kettering.”
Bagel Cafe was founded by Nancy Madewell in 1992 on Miamisburg-Centerville Road in the Centerville-Washington Twp. area. Madewell added what was then a second, larger location on Far Hills Avenue and Stroop Road in 1993, and subsequently closed the original restaurant, along with a third Bagel Cafe that operated in Beavercreek, to focus on the Kettering location.
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