Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffles earns high B in latest inspection

ajc.com

Credit: Willoughby Mariano

Credit: Willoughby Mariano

Troubled Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffle’s downtown Atlanta location earned a B in its latest health inspection.

The inspection was required after the iconic restaurant flunked an October 6 with a score of 44. Its owner Shanga Hankerson, 40, was arrested in June on two felony theft charges after Georgia Department of Revenue investigators said he collected taxes and failed to hand them over to the state. Witnesses told investigators that Hankerson spent on pot and sex parties as the restaurant sank, according to an AJC investigation.

The arrest gave rise to a public family feud between Hankerson and his mother, soul music legend Knight, an Atlanta native. Knight is suing in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to have her name removed from the restaurant, saying it is hurting her reputation.

When Hankerson fired back in a court filing that she lacks the "mental capacity" to make decisions about the restaurant, she accused him of trying to "extort" and "blackmail" he r with false reports that she has dementia or Alzheimer's Disease.

The restaurant earned a score of 88 in its most recent inspection, a report of the review states. Problems with chicken stored at unsafe temperatures were absent in the latest report, but some equipment was in disrepair and inspectors spotted cockroaches in a where dishes are washed.

You can read the report here.