Jim Zhao is working to bring his Panda Chinese Kitchen back up to code and hopes to be able to reopen on Thursday.
Zhao said that "in China, a turtle is like a Buddha." It's supposed to bring good luck.
Inspectors ordered the restaurant shut down on Friday after finding the turtle and other health code violations.
Zhao says he rescued the turtle because he saw a man trying to get rid of it in the parking lot, so put it in the sink until he could release it. He's now given it to a friend.
Zhao says the restaurant has never been shut down under his management, although he acknowledges that it has been closed in the past for other health code violations.
