Food for Thought Report 12.23 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Lubbock Health Inspectors visited 46 food establishments last week. This week, five of them are perfect scoring top performers, and two of them are low performers.

Food for Thought 12.23 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 12/23/04.

We start with United Supermarkets at 8010 Frankford Avenue. Both the Bakery and the Deli met health standards perfectly. No critical violations make them Top Performers.

The United Supermarket at 112 North University also falls into the top performing category. Inspectors checked the Food Processing Department and Produce Department. Both are now Top Performers.

A new restaurant to the Food For Thought list starts off on the right foot. Queso's at 2102 19th Street is a top performer after a surprise inspection last Thursday.

Kentucky Fried Chicken at 6411 19th is also a repeat Top Performer.

Another restaurant new to our list: "It's Greek to Me" restaurant inside South Plains Mall. After one hour checking the food safety at "It's Greek to Me" inspectors could find no critical violations and that makes them a Food For Thought Top Performer.

Now moving on the Low Performers.

Vintages Restaurant at 505 Avenue Q was found in violation of five food safety standards.

• Sausage was being served at 72 degrees when it should have been at least 140.
• Tamales, shredded cheese, milk, and other foods had no date mark to prove it wasn't old.
• Toxic items were found not labeled.
• Inspectors found soda nozzles and a can opener soiled.

The health inspector writes that all of these violations were corrected at the time of inspection. Vintages management tells NewsChannel 11 everything that they were cited for was corrected on site.

Our final Low Performer this week is Hong Kong at 4845 50th street. Inspectors cited Hong Kong for seven critical health violations.

• Fried chicken was found on a counter top at 72 degrees and sushi was found at 55 degrees. Inspectors report that, to be safe to eat, these foods should have been 45 degrees or colder or hotter than 140 degrees.
• Hot foods like chicken, ribs and steak fingers were being served in the danger zone below 140 degrees.
• Inspectors found personal drinks in the kitchen area without lids.
• Hong Kong was not date marking ready to eats foods such as shredded cheese.
• Hot water was not available in the bathroom sink.
• Inspectors also found no soap in the bathroom hand sink.
• Inspectors discovered cooking utensils in the kitchen broken and damaged.

Inspectors say that not all of these violations were corrected during the visit, and they will return. We'll keep you posted. Management at Hong Kong could not be reached for comment.