HOUSTON – A Houston-area woman said she made a disturbing and dangerous discovery in her takeout dinner from a local restaurant.

Brooklyn Weathers said she found maggots in her soup and she has the video for proof.

A cup of potato soup was supposed to be Weathers' first meal after she had her gallbladder removed. Her boyfriend picked it up as takeout and brought it to her house.

There were four separate containers with the soup, shredded cheese, chives and bacon.

"I sprinkled the cheese into the soup," said Weathers. "I went to go take a bite. When I picked it up to take my next bite, I paused to say something and I looked down and there were maggots crawling on the spoon."

Weathers' boyfriend took the food back to the restaurant, where they said the manager on duty didn't seem to care.

"The response that we got was that it wasn't very uncommon for that to happen with dairy products," Weathers recounted.

The couple sent the cellphone video of the maggots to Local 2. We sent them straight to the Harris County Health Department to file a complaint. It was already after hours, but an inspector went to the restaurant the very next day.

The inspection report shows she found no evidence of maggots or conditions that would allow them to develop at the restaurant. Because of those findings, we are not identifying the restaurant.

"The maggots didn't just come out of nowhere," said Weathers. "I mean I didn't put them in the food when I came home."

We get complaints like Weathers' frequently. One man sent us a picture of a roach stuck in a straw that he sucked up in a fountain drink from a local restaurant. But Local 2 can only report what we can prove independent of the pictures, and only the Health Department has the authority to go inside the kitchens of local restaurants. It's why you should contact your local health department as soon as you eat or see something unsanitary.

Hopefully, there's not a next time, but if there is, Weathers said she will not alert the restaurant before she calls the Health Department.

"I think that maybe they had a chance to cover things up, perhaps discard the rest of the cheese before the Health Department got there," said Weathers.

Local 2 contacted the chain and received a statement that said it's still investigating the claim.

Below is a list of local health departments that inspect restaurants in the Houston area. Save the phone number for your local department on your cellphone so you'll have it if you need to make a complaint right away.

How to file restaurant complaint

Local 2 got its information from the City of Houston Health Department, but many of you have complaints about restaurants in other cities and counties.

Refer to the following list to find out which agency to contact depending on the location of the restaurant:

--For all complaints about restaurants located in the city of Houston, call 311 or file the complaint online.

--Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services inspects and permits all retail food establishments in the unincorporated areas of Harris County, as well as in the cities of Tomball, Katy, Jacinto City, Galena Park, La Porte, Morgan's Point, South Houston, Seabrook, El Lago, Southside Place, Hunter's Creek, Piney Point, Bunker Hill, Jersey Village, Spring Valley, Deer Park, Humble, Waller, and West University Place. If you believe you have become ill from ingesting food from an establishment in unincorporated Harris County or in a city inspected by Harris County, file a complaint online or call them at 713-274-6300. If you are concerned about a food establishment's operations such as cleanliness, food-handling procedures, etc., file a complaint online here.

--To file a complaint about a restaurant in Montgomery County, call the Montgomery County Health Department at 936-539-7839.

--To file a complaint about a restaurant in Galveston County, call the Galveston County Health Department at 409-938-2300. Use this link to speed the process and file your complaint electronically, or send an email to mentringer@gchd.org.

--To file a complaint about a restaurant in Brazoria County, contact the Brazoria County Health Department.

--To file a complaint about a restaurant in Fort Bend County, contact the Fort Bend County Health Department.

--To file a complaint about a restaurant in Sugar Land, click here or contact the Senior Sanitarian at 281-275-2278 or email foodinspection@sugarlandtx.gov.