Having owned a restaurant I have the following comments to make:
If you have a dishwasher you are required to have certain equipment under the health code.
If you do not have a dishwasher you are required to have completely different equipment under the health code.
The two are not even remotely similar. Therefore its nearly guaranteed that the restaurant owner is violating the health code. No restaurant kitchen has room for both sets of equipment.
Well, to this I can positively state;
Bull****.
I just came from a job that has both. A big ass dishwasher but they also have the required three compartment sink, temp regulated water, and appropriate chems to do washing without the dishwasher. Do you realize that there are commercisl dishwashers that are the same size as a typical residential unit? It’s also quite common for commercial kitchens to use three compartment sinks (limited to washing of dishware) , regardless of whether they use a dishwashing machine.
Maybe I should ask; do you really know what is required if there is no dishwasher? It’s apparently a lot less than you think. I’ve never owned a restaurant but have worked in building several as well as having friends who owned restaurants. My own mother worked in a commercial kitchen for many years. I’ve watched as the health department certified kitchens (including the dishwashing facilities) (did you know rough timbers (like in the timbers of a post and beam construct building) are a real problem getting to a condition acceptable to the Indiana department of Health?) in a food prep area?
In addition to that, I can read. Here is Indiana’s health code rules
http://www.in.gov/isdh/files/410_iac_7-24.pdf