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No lights were on inside the restaurant and the doors were locked Tuesday. The listed phone number was also disconnected.
In the restaurant’s most recent inspection report, dated Sept. 1, 2016, inspector Carla Ealy noted the physical facilities were not being maintained in “good repair.” She observed water-damaged ceiling tiles, according to the report.
The health department noted that foods were not being stored at their proper temperatures, according to a report from Aug. 30, 2016. The walk-in cooler was operating at 50 degrees, but Buchanan told the inspector he had purchased a new cooler, according to that report.
Some of the violations from a Feb. 8, 2016, report included dirty shelving, no shields on the lights in the kitchen, and a note that a pest control operator was needed.
The restaurant needed a “thorough” cleaning of several pieces of equipment, according to a Jan. 26, 2016, health inspection.
Mallory Greenham, director of Downtown Middletown Inc., said she had heard the restaurant was closed, but she had no more information.
Some people posted on Facebook that they were disappointed the diner had closed because it provided delivery service in the city, they said.
In September 2016, three former employees of the diner sued the eatery and its owner for failure to pay them minimum wage and overtime, as well as not deducting their state and federal payroll taxes, Medicaid, Social Security payments and other customary withholdings.
According to the lawsuit, filed in September in Butler County Common Pleas Court, two employees were paid “only $4.00 for all hours they worked,” while another was paid “$6.00 for all the hours he worked, but the (restaurant) did not create or maintain any records of his hours worked.”
During the time the three worked for Buck’s, Ohio minimum wage was $8 and then later the current rate of $8.10 per hour.
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