Food for Thought Report 10.14 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

For the third week in a row, we've got a slew of low performers and critical violations, but first, two local restaurants are enjoying the view from the top.

Food for Thought 10.14 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 10/14/04.

A perfect score on their last inspection is the cherry on top for our first top performer this week. Call the jeweler, Sonic at 1609 Martin Luther King Boulevard made another gem. Not only do Lubbock health inspectors keep Sonic employees on their toes, a third party company inspects them twice a year as well. Manager, Nathan Nale says, "I attribute it to my team. I've got good assistant managers and a good crew.  It's just constant training... day to day, in and out, everyday."

Our only other honoree is famous for their tamales, but this week they're famous for being a Top Performer! Pedro's Tamales at 8207 Highway 87 had a perfect inspection last week thanks to some stringent cleaning policies and dedicated employees. General Manager, Daniel Parraz says, "We have wonderful employees. They're really clean and really proud."

Employees at Pedro's have been working six days a week to crank out 7,000 dozen tamales a day! They have clients across the nation.  A handfull might sound familiar: members of Brooks & Dunn, George Bush Sr., and Nolan Ryan (who they send a few extra tamales to even though he didn't play for the Sox!)  Parraz says, "I'm a huge Boston Red Sox fan and they're gonna come back and take the next three games!"

It's another full plate of low performers this week. The 66th Street Diner at 2323 66th is our first low performer this week. Their four critical violations were as follows:

• Employees did not wash hands between tasks.
• A cup with an unsealed lid was next to silverware.
• Inspectors observed improper handling of ready to eats foods.
• Improper use and storage of wiping clothes created a cross contamination hazard.

Every critical violation was corrected on site. A manager tells NewsChannel 11 they had new staff members in the kitchen the day of the inspection and they have since trained those employees on proper procedures.

O'Hana Japanese Steakhouse is also a low performer this week. They're located at 6909 Indiana Avenue. Violations included:

• Shelled eggs held at room temperature, above the required cold hold of 45 degrees.
• Employees were drinking from cups without lids
• Improper food storage was creating a cross contamination hazard.
• A handsink was being used for purposes other than handwashing and did not have papertowels and soap.
• Several flies were found in the kitchen.

All critical violations were corrected on site. The owner and the manager of O'Hana's say their kitchen and food are clean, they just have an old building that needs some repairs and re-arranging. They look forward to a better inspection next time.

Our next low performer is the Ranch House Restaurant at 1520 Buddy Holly Avenue. The Ranch House had five critical violations. They were:

• Eggs on a counter at 52 degrees.
• Pasta at 72 degrees.
• Shredded cheese in a walk-in cooler not datemarked.
• A spray bottle unlabled.
• A thermometer was not calibrated and there was no thermometer in the reach in cooler.

All the critical violations were corrected on site a manager declined to comment further.

The Denny's at 607 Avenue Q is this week's last low performer. At Denny's:

• Eggs on a food line were held at 52 degrees.
• Sausage was below the required hot temperature of 140.
• A cook did not wash his hands between prep of raw food and ready to eat food items.
• A pot roast was not datemarked.
• There was no thermometer in the reach in cooler.

All critical violations were corrected on site. A Denny's manager says they have re-doubled their efforts to keep food at the right temperature.