😳 Chicago Restaurant Scandal Deepens: Sister Location Has a Disturbing History of Food Safety Violations…

A Marine veteran’s fiancée has filed a lawsuit after he allegedly suffered a devastating health crisis following a meal at an Illinois steakhouse—and newly uncovered records show the restaurant group’s sister location has a long history of food safety slip-ups.

The legal action, brought this week by Melanie Stayer, centers on a night out at Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse in Oak Brook, where her fiancé, 44-year-old firefighter Joe Belgio, is said to have eaten oysters that made him seriously ill.

According to court documents and health department records reviewed by The Post, the downtown Chicago Gibsons location—just 20 miles away—has failed or barely passed a third of its annual food safety inspections since 2010.

Records from the Chicago Department of Public Health show that the downtown venue has been cited repeatedly for keeping potentially hazardous food at unsafe temperatures.

One 2013 inspection reportedly found coolers storing blue cheese, hamburgers, beef filets, and steaks well above the city’s 40-degree limit—some at more than 60 degrees.

In March 2023, inspectors noted that a food server handled a baguette with bare hands while slicing it, and several containers of oysters were missing proper identification tags. Four pounds of the shellfish had to be thrown away.

A December 2021 inspection flagged milk stored at 58. 5 degrees and another cooler holding unknown foods, including shellfish, at a balmy 62. 4 degrees.

The same visit found a dishwasher that didn’t reach the required 180-degree sterilization temperature.

The Oak Brook restaurant where Belgio allegedly ate, however, has a clean record with the health department.

Belgio’s fiancée described the evening as a celebration of life with their five-month-old daughter, Carmela. Three days after eating the oysters, according to the lawsuit, he went into cardiac arrest and lost consciousness for at least eight minutes.

His lawyer, Scott O’Sullivan, told outlets that the shellfish allegedly contained two dangerous bacteria: Enteropathogenic E. coli and Plesiomonas shigelloides. Belgio spent months in a coma and is now bedridden, requiring round-the-clock care.

A Gibsons spokesperson told The Post, “We recognize the seriousness of what he is facing and wish him a full recovery. We take food safety extremely seriously. Based on the facts, there is no evidence to suggest our establishment caused his health condition.”

As the legal process unfolds, one question remains: could this tragedy have been prevented?