SKOWHEGAN — One of Skowhegan’s three Chinese restaurants has reopened after addressing the most serious issues raised in a failed health inspection Thursday.

Officials found 28 violations during the inspection at Mei Lee Garden at 381 Madison Ave., according to a state database of health inspections.

Dong Chen, listed on town records as the owner and operator, said in a telephone call Tuesday that he got the green light to reopen from an inspector Monday evening after addressing the most pressing issues. The restaurant was open for business Tuesday.

Lindsay Hammes, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees restaurant health inspections, confirmed the agency signed off on the establishment reopening.

Mei Lee Garden “has corrected the violations that required immediate temporary closure, and they can now safely prepare and serve food,” Hammes said in a statement.

Records in the database show inspectors identified 10 critical issues, including employees not cleaning their hands as required, workers handling ready-to-eat foods with their bare hands, improper packaging of food, surfaces and utensils being unclean and failing to follow date-marking rules.

The other, noncritical violations included a lack of hand wash signs and drying device, improperly cooked foods, facilities and equipment in disrepair, dirty ventilation, and “dead or trapped birds, rodents, or insects not removed from control devices” at a sufficient frequency.

The state conducts regular health inspections of licensed businesses biennially, according to the Health Inspection Program within the Maine DHHS.

“However, inspection frequency may vary depending on complaints received, public health risks, or compliance history,” the program says on its website.

“Inspections are a ‘snapshot’ of the day and time of the inspection,” the program says. “An inspection conducted on any given day may not represent the overall, long-term compliance of an establishment. Establishments are provided the opportunity to correct any observed violations while the inspector is still on site.”

An inspection is considered “failed” if inspectors find more than three critical violations or more than 10 noncritical violations, according to the Health Inspection Program.

“Critical violations are more likely than other violations to contribute to foodborne or other illnesses, infection, or environmental health hazards,” the Health Inspection Program states.

Critical inspections must be corrected within 10 days, while businesses generally have 30 days to correct noncritical violations. The timing of a follow-up inspection depends on the specific violations, the program says.

The recent inspection was not the first time officials found issues at Mei Lee Garden. The eatery failed inspections in 2019, 2022 and 2024, according to a state health inspection database.