Food for Thought Report 9.23 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Food for Thought Report 9.23

You won't be wondering "Where's the beef" after this week's Food for Thought report. NewsChannel 11 put this weeks three top performing burger joints to the test to see exactly how much they know about an American classic... wait, or is it?

Food for Thought 9.23 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 9/23/04.

When asked why they call a burger made of BEEF a HAMburger, Melinda Garcia, Manager of Christakis Burger, ventures a guess "I guess because you put it all together and it becomes ground beef glued together." David Sayari, owner of Ted's Burgers, says, "Probably the shape of it. I might be wrong on this but that's what I'm thinking, it's the shape of the ham." Ann Schooler at Jumbo Joe' #2, says, "Because the original who created the hamburger was from Hamburg, Germany." We have a winner! Well, she's close. The hamburger gets its name from the hamburg steak which originated in Hamburg, Germany! So, it turns out this American classic is only American by adoption.

When asked what the first hamburg chain was, Melinda Garcia is stumped, David Sayari says, "Probably before my time." Ann Schooler came up with the answer, but only when asked a different question. The answer is White Castle, a chain that came out of Witchita, Kansas back in 1921.

Ann is proving quite the burger buff, but she didn't know the first hamburger between two buns was introduced at the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904. Since then, the hamburger has certainly come a long way and our top performers know how to do them up right. Garcia explains, "We have good old fashioned hamburgers, just how they want 'em." Schooler says, "It's just a matter of everyone in the right spot at the right time keeping everything going." Sayari says, "Employees from the Health Department come here and eat so that tells you something about how clean we are.

Only one low performer this week. The Chinese Kitchen at 3715 19th Street had four critical violations.

• Chicken and beef were found cooling at room temperature, then placed in a walk-in cooler.
• A chicken leg was found on the food line at 120 degrees. That's 20 degrees below the required hot hold.
• A sanitizer spray bottle was not labeled.
• Soiled knives were found with cleaned utensils and a can opener was heavily soiled.