Mark Kurlyandchik

Detroit Free Press

After multiple health code violations, the iconic Como's restaurant on the corner of 9 Mile and Woodward in Ferndale was shuttered Wednesday by the Oakland County Department of Health.

Oakland County Health and Human Services Director George Miller said the restaurant's business license was temporarily revoked after his department made an appeal to the Food Service Appeal Board, which has the power to revoke licenses.

"The law requires us to inspect restaurants minimally twice per year," Miller said. "Unfortunately for Como's we've had quite a number of contacts with them between 2013 and 2016."

Miller said the multiple violations stemmed from concerns over the potential spread of food-borne illness, citing issues such as cross-contamination of food, improper personal hygiene among staff and not properly marking dates on food items, among other issues.

Miller said Como's had hired a consultant to help get the restaurant re-opened. The process could take weeks or months.

“I had no imminent food-service food-borne danger to the public. The place wasn’t dirty,” owner George Grego said late Friday. “I have critical violations, I have non-critical violations. It’s my fault. I just didn’t follow through with the proper paperwork to submit logs and temperature manuals to the health department over a stated period of time. So it had nothing to do with endangering the public, serving bad or rotted food, anything like that whatsoever."

However, it’s the health department’s job to prevent food-borne illness before it spreads by focusing on problem areas that pose a potential threat.

"Just like you have the potential to win the lottery tonight,” Grego said dismissively when asked about the potential for the conditions at Como’s to endanger the public.

Grego said other violations stemmed from not having paper towels above some of the employee hand sinks and more.

"My employees, unbeknownst to me, were smoking in the basement,” he said. “It’s my fault. The training has been poor to non-existent. I’ve hired a couple of specialists that will be training my employees on a consistent manner."

Grego said the restaurant had been closed for extended periods four times before, thanks to two fires, a flood and the Northeast power blackout of 2003. He confirmed that this was the first time Como’s had been closed by the health department, but characterized it as just a blip in a long and storied run.

“I’ve been here since 1961,” Grego said. "I’ve probably had 100,000 violations. I’ve probably had 300 different health inspectors. But again, it’ll be a blessing in disguise for me."

Grego's parents, George and Sicilia Grego, opened the restaurant in 1961. His father has since passed away, but Sicilia still helps run Como's, which was renovated most recently in 1997.

Grego said he hopes to re-open Como's in three to five weeks with a renovated dining room and kitchen, a properly trained staff and a new menu that’s “fresh, lighter and locally sourced."

When asked about specific plans to change the overwhelmingly negative public comments shared on social media since the news broke, Grego remained defiant.

“That’s all going to change,” he said. "I still have the best pizza there is — that won’t change."

The restaurant announced in a Facebook post Wednesday that it would be closing for a few weeks to undergo renovations "to create a better dining experience for our guests."

"I am pleased to report that they're making great strides in getting their restaurant together," Miller said.

"We're excited to get them back open again."Miller said that revoking a business license for a restaurant's health code violations was "an infrequent" occurrence.

"Como's has been around since the 60's, so they're a valued business in Oakland County," Miller said. "But we have to keep the public safe."

Open since 1961 and known for its outdoor patio and late-night hours, the restaurant's liquor license was temporarily suspended last year for two violations of state liquor law.

Contact Mark Kurlyandchik: 313-222-5026 or mkurlyandchik@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mkurlyandchik and Instagram: mkurlyandchik.