WTSP.com - Inverness, Florida—With awards lining the windows, Evergreen Buffet was at one time a runner-up for "Best of the Best" of Citrus County restaurants.

"I got the honey chicken and the lo mein and all that, it was pretty good," said longtime customer Nick James.

But James must have missed our report in 2013 warning customers of potential problems in the kitchen. The restaurant was shut down in January of last year, according to state records, with an employee not washing their hands, close to 100 droppings and evidence of rodents chewing on bags of food. Back then, employees blamed all the issues on the owner being out of town.

"We correct everything. It won't happen again, we promise," said manager Elaine Tacn. Continue