Restaurant photo: Google Earth, V 7.3, Wheaton, MD, ©2026 Google. Omar Lazo overlay: BALLOTPEDIA
WHEATON, MD — Los Chorros Restaurant, the longtime Wheaton establishment co-owned and operated by Montgomery County Board of Education candidate Omar Lazo, has been cited for nine critical and four non-critical food safety violations during seven county health inspections between March 2023 and June 2026, according to Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services records.
Lazo, who faces Brenda Diaz in Tuesday’s election for the at-large Board of Education seat, has highlighted his business management experience as one of his qualifications for office. He is the chief operating officer of Los Chorros, the family-owned restaurant established by his parents in 1989.
The restaurant’s most recent inspection, conducted June 10, 2026, identified four critical food safety violations involving cooking, cooling, reheating and hot-holding temperatures. Three were marked “Not In Compliance,” while the fourth, involving hot-holding temperatures, was classified as “Corrected Onsite.” Despite those findings, the restaurant received an overall passing inspection result.
Under Montgomery County’s food inspection program, critical violations involve food safety requirements demanding immediate correction. These include conditions that can increase the risk of foodborne illness, such as improper food temperatures, contamination and unsafe food handling practices.
The inspection history also documents recurring violations involving cold-holding temperatures and the county’s rodents-and-insects inspection category.
A January 6, 2026, inspection identified a violation in the rodents-and-insects category. No inspections were conducted in 2025. The restaurant had received a clean inspection on December 6, 2024, with no violations recorded.
A March 20, 2024, inspection identified improper cold-holding temperatures and a violation involving rodents and insects.
On November 27, 2023, inspectors documented two critical violations involving food protection from contamination and cold-holding temperatures, along with another rodents-and-insects violation.
A March 20, 2023, reinspection identified a critical violation involving food obtained from approved sources. Eleven days earlier, on March 9, 2023, inspectors had identified a critical cold-holding temperature violation and a non-critical violation involving rodents and insects.
In a written response, Lazo said, “The temperature findings involved an ingredient used in a dish prepared to order. Although we had followed the same preparation method for many years and had been approved by dozens of inspectors, that history does not exempt us from current food safety requirements that a new inspector may warrant. It took several visits and consultation with the county inspection team to establish an acceptable procedure.” The response did not indicate whether that explanation applied to the cold storage deficiencies cited throughout 2024 or more recently in 2026, or both.
The issue regarding food obtained from approved sources was resolved by taking an item off the menu, Lazo said.
In response to pest control concerns, Lazo wrote, “Regarding pest control, Los Chorros operates in a building approximately 60 years old, with shared spaces adjoining neighboring units. That presents challenges, but addressing them remains our responsibility. We worked with our pest control company on a comprehensive plan, including sealing access points between our restaurant and adjacent spaces. We also went to a two-week schedule for pest control. According to our general manager, those corrective measures resolved the issue.” Pests were cited in the January 2026 inspection, but not during the most recent visit in June 2026.
The county’s publicly available inspection data identifies the violation categories but does not provide detailed descriptions of the conditions observed. Consequently, the records do not establish whether the findings involved rodents, insects or other pest-control deficiencies.
None of the seven inspections reviewed resulted in a reported failure or closure. The four inspections conducted in 2023 and early 2024 were classified as “Critical Violations Corrected,” indicating the identified issues were addressed during inspection. The three subsequent inspections, including the June 2026 inspection with four critical violations, received passing results.
“Los Chorros has served this community for more than 37 years. We value the trust our customers place in us, and when inspectors identify concerns, our responsibility is to address them and make the necessary changes,” Lazo said.
Lazo has emphasized his business and organizational leadership experience during his campaign for the Board of Education. In addition to operating Los Chorros, he serves on the Montgomery College Board of Trustees and chairs the Montgomery County Workforce Development Board.
Montgomery Fix reviewed two Montgomery County food inspection datasets covering 2023 through 2026, reconciled differences in their reporting formats, and eliminated duplicate records. The findings reflect seven distinct inspections of Los Chorros Restaurant at 2420 Blueridge Ave. in Wheaton.
Sources: Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, “Food Inspection database (through 2024)” and “HHS Food Inspection Data from July 2024 onward”.
