Food for Thought Report 6.25 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

6/25/09

Food for Thought Report 6.25

By Christy Moreland  - bio | email

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - We start this week at the top with Copper Caboose at 5609 Villa Drive.

They opened in 1977, although at a different location, but this is their first time on the Food for Thought list. "It's real exciting. Just feels good to get on the news and of course show a good report down at the health department. So we worked really hard to get where we are today," general manager Johnny Garcia says.

Garcia says his entire crew deserves the credit, "The teamwork here is amazing. Everybody pitches in, does their part, they help each other. Food safety is very important."

And here's a bit of trivia for you: Cooper Caboose was the first restaurant in Lubbock to serve what?

"Well story has it that back in '77 nobody knew what fajitas were. The owners brought it down to Texas. The fajita use to actually used to be the throw away part of the meat, but somebody figured out how to kind of trim it up a little bit and add some spices to it. We were the first to actually have fajitas on the menu - just serving them really."

And Johnny says if you've never tried them, or any of their other dishes, you're missing out, "We're definitely one of Lubbock's best kept secrets on 56th and Ave. Q. Probably the best Mexican food in town. I would put it up against anybody."

Our other top performer sank a hole in one with its latest health inspection. The Lubbock Country Club at 3400 Mesa road is a repeat top performer.

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Food for Thought 6.25
Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 6/25/09.

Chinese Kitchen is this week's only low performer.

Inspectors sited the restaurant with 10 critical violations.

  • Fried chicken was not cooling properly.
  • Steamed rice and cooked beef were not at least 135 degrees.
  • Eggs and bean sprouts were above 41 degrees.
  • A cooler did not have a thermometer.
  • An employee was not wearing gloves while working with vegetables.
  • A dirty bowl was in the rice bin.
  • Uncovered drinks were on food prep tables.
  • There were no towels at a hand sink.
  • A toxic chemical was not labeled.
  • Several items were broken or dirty - including a cutting board, not being used, that was moldy.

According to the report, most of the violations were corrected during the inspection. Management tells us that the inspector came back on Monday and that everything had been taken care of.

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