A Clairemont restaurant recently linked to a salmonella outbreak is now facing a pair of lawsuits filed on behalf of three people who were allegedly sickened after eating at the establishment.
San Diego County health officials said Thursday that 37 people fell ill — nine of whom were hospitalized — after eating at Aladdin Mediterranean Café between April 25 to May 1. The county said those impacted were between 1 and 90 years old.
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WATCH HEREThe restaurant was voluntarily closed by its owners on May 1 to allow the county to conduct testing to determine the source of the outbreak, it was announced Friday. The restaurant is expected to reopen "once the investigation is complete and it is determined there is no ongoing risk," the county said.
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SIGN UP When NBC 7 went by Aladdin on Saturday, a sign had been posted that stated the following:
"Aladdin is temporarily closed while we undergo some maintenance. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. We are working to resolve this issue immediately. We will be back open within a couple days."
NBC 7 reached out last week to Aladdin's management and again on Wednesday and has yet to receive a response regarding the outbreak.
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County health inspectors visited the restaurant on May 2 of this year and found no violations during an environmental inspection. They similarly checked Aladdin out on April 29, a few days after the diners were sickened and found no violations then, either. However, during a "routine inspection" that same day in April, they did observe a "major" violation of food-safety protocols and a "minor" violation related to food holding temperatures.
Among those who fell ill were Chula Vista resident Daniel Meza, 37, and San Diegan Nubia Munguia, 29, friends who had also eaten at the restaurant in the past. According to the suit, they ate lamb and chicken, pita bread, hummus, rice and Mediterranean ice cream on April 26, then began suffering from diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and dehydration, and later tested positive for salmonella, according to their lawyers. Munguia was also among the people hospitalized.
Also sickened, according to another suit, was Joseph Jarvis, who ordered the Mezza Platter, with lamb chicken and beef, also on April 26. Jarvis experienced "bloody vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and dehydration," according to a news release issued Wednesday by his attorney, Ron Simon. "He was taken to UC San Diego Health Emergency Department and immediately admitted to the hospital, where he remained for several days before being discharged home. He is still recovering from his illness."
Simon, who is also representing Meza and Munguia, alleged in a statement that the restaurant has had seven prior violations "for failing to properly maintain or regulate holding temperatures for the food it served in the past."
Meza and Munguia's suit maintains that the pair experience pain and injuries including but not limited to "pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, physical disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, medical and pharmaceutical expenses, travel and travel-related expenses, emotional distress, lost wages, lost earning capacity, loss of consortium, punitive and/or exemplary damages and attorneys’ fees (to the extent recoverable) and other general, special, ordinary, incidental and consequential damages as would be anticipated to arise under the circumstances."
A news release issued by Simon on Wednesday maintains that his firm represents 22 alleged victims of the outbreak.
"When a customer goes to a restaurant and orders something off the menu, they're putting an enormous amount of trust in the restaurant that has done everything it can to make sure the food on that plate is safe. And in this case, with Aladdin, that trust was breached," Simon said.
Simon's not only hoping the suits can help his clients through what he says is their pain and suffering but also to make sure restaurants like Aladdin put systems in place to keep future outbreaks from happening again.
County health officials say salmonella symptoms typically begin 12-72 hours after eating contaminated food and those infected may be ill from 4 to 7 days but generally recover without treatment.
People who ate at Aladdin Mediterranean Café on between April 25 and May 1 and experience symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever, were advised by the county to consider contacting a health care provider.
With the health department saying it has not been able to find the source of the outbreak, some regular customers are hesitant to come back for dinner.
"I'm skeptical about that because I had a family member who got E. coli. My cousin got real sick ... It's almost like PTSD, definitely scares me off," Jose Arciniega said.
