Karen’s Diner, the restaurant where staff are deliberately rude to customers, has been hit with a zero food hygiene rating from inspectors.
The popular Australian chain – which has opened UK sites in Manchester, Birmingham, and Sheffield, amongst others – might have built its reputation on shoddy hospitality but we’re not sure this is what they were aiming for.
Its latest diner was recently opened in Newport, South Wales, with staff welcoming a local hygiene inspector on 22 February as queues built up outside.
Following the visit, last week inspectors issued the diner with a zero rating alongside a list of ways it must improve.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Food standards fall into three categories: the hygienic handling of food, the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building, and the system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat.
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Food venues are then given an overall star rating of zero to five, with zero meaning urgent improvement is needed and five meaning hygiene standards fully comply with the law.
Since receiving its zero hygiene rating in Newport the diner has changed head chefs and, according to Paul Levin, who oversees Karen’s Diner’s operations in Europe, the kitchen is “now how a kitchen should be.”
However, according to the Food Standards Agency website, Newport is not the only Karen’s Diner with a poor hygiene rating. The Sheffield branch currently has a two, meaning improvement is required, and the Birmingham diner has a score of one, meaning major improvement is needed.
A Newport council spokesperson said: “A food hygiene inspection was carried out at Karen’s Diner in Friars Walk within a week of opening to the public.
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Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
“Appropriate action was taken and the food hygiene rating will be published at the end of the month.”
A spokesman for Karen’s Diner in Newport said: “The visit took place five days after the official opening, whereby the restaurant had experienced delays with the gas installation.
“Karen’s Diner remains committed in ensuring the utmost care and attention is provided when it comes to food and hygiene standards, and following advice on necessary improvements by Newport City Council, has requested a revisit for the diner to be rescored to its deserved hygiene level.
“Although an initial score rating of zero has been provided, Karen’s Diner would like to reassure its customers that the rectifications by Newport City Council were acted upon immediately, and the diner continues to celebrate positive comments and reviews by their guests.”
Featured image – The Sheff
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Award-winning Manchester cocktail bar Red Light announces surprise return in new location
Daisy Jackson
Red Light, an award-winning cocktail bar that closed its doors earlier this year, has announced it’s making a grand return.
The celebrated watering hole had been at Kampus in the city centre for three years before it closed for good in August.
But now, in news that will thrill a lot of us in Manchester, the bar has announced it’s returning, with plenty of new ’surprises’ to come.
Announcing Red Light 2.0 this evening, they revealed a brand-new location, with all the cocktails we all loved before, plus a new bar snack offering.
Also new with its reopening will be a dedicated clubbing space (operating in a residential area was one of the reasons Red Light closed at Kampus) and the return of its legendary street parties.
They said: “Your love and support has meant the absolute world to us since we closed the doors to our Kampus venue.
“It’s been a tricky secret to keep but we’re thrilled to share that we’re back and in a brand new location!
“This one feels special, it’s not often you get a second chance at things in the current climate.”
They added: “We can’t wait to welcome you with open arms. Red Light NQ. LETS GO BABY!”
Although they’ve not announced the location, they have teased some pictures – and unless we’re very much mistaken, they’ll be moving into Tariff Street, in the old El Capo site.
Chinatown restaurant pleads for help after dine-and-dash customer leaves staff member in A&E
Daisy Jackson
A brilliant restaurant in Manchester’s Chinatown has shared CCTV and a heartfelt appeal after one of its staff members was left in A&E.
Noodle Alley shared that one of its young staff members chased after a group of dine-and-dash customers who’d left without paying for their meal.
The restaurant then said that she was ‘assaulted’ at some point in the chase and ended up in A&E.
In their statement, Noodle Alley said that the staff member ‘had treated them kindly and never expected that kindness to come back to her like this’.
They wrote: “What has this world come to? A violent man sent our staff to A&E over an unpaid meal.”
The CCTV shows a group of three young men, all carrying Selfridges shopping bags, entering the restaurant.
They sit and enjoy a meal, before two of them slip out of the restaurant. The third man then exits but is chased by a Noodle Alley staff member.
It’s at this point – out of the range of the restaurant’s CCTV – that they said she was assaulted ‘after going beyond her duty to try and recover what had been taken’.
The family business said that she has been ’emotionally affected’ by the incident.
The police are involved and the restaurant has appealed for anyone who can help with their investigation to get in touch.
It’s also the second time they’ve appealed about a dine-and-dash customer in the last few months, but this incident went ‘far beyond’ previous incidents.
In their full statement, Noodle Alley said: “We’re a small family business, and lately it feels like small businesses are being targeted again and again.
“But this time, it went far beyond anything we have experienced before.
“One of our young staff members — a girl simply doing her job — was assaulted after going beyond her duty to try to recover what had been taken from our restaurant. She ended up in A&E.
“What hurts us most is seeing how emotionally affected she has been by what happened. She told us she had treated them kindly and never expected that kindness to come back to her like this.
“We work hard to look after our staff and our customers, and nobody should have to go through this simply for doing their job.
“We have reported the incident to the police.
“If anyone recognises these individuals or has any information that could help the police with their investigation, please contact us or the police directly.
“We’re sharing this because we believe our staff deserve to feel safe at work.”
Georgina Pellant -
15th March 2023 
