Food for Thought Report 1.20 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Our first stop in Food for Thought this week swept us away to a little piece of Italy where the smell of calzones and pizza fill the air. "Obviously I have a great staff and we work hard and go through our routine everyday and obviously keep clean and strive for perfection," says, Dario Yocum, Manager of One Guy From Italy at 1019 University Avenue. Perfection is was One Guy got! Health inspectors tossed the restaurant a perfect score on their last health inspection. The original location of One Guy has been in business in Lubbock for 18 years and when it comes to Food for Thought, they have a bit of streak going. Yocum says, "I just thank everybody, thank my employees and you thank you, NewsChannel 11, for this opportunity. It's an honor for us to have seven in a row."

Food for Thought 1.20 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 1/20/05.

Up next on the top performer list: a restaurant known for it's slogan "eat more chicken." The Chick-Fil-A at 6820 Slide Road prides itself on not being fast food, but instead a quick service restaurant. General Manager Brad Maisel says, "We enjoy seeing the same customers day after day after day. We want to make sure they keep coming back. We take great effort to make sure we have a safe product, a good product, a quality product." Maisel attributes Chick-Fil-A's success to who else... but the hard working employees both out front and in the kitchen. He says, "The ladies and gentlemen in the kitchen they prepare the food and they eat here too, so they know that they want a safe product."

Now, so many low performers... so little time! Five Lubbock restaurants combine for a heap of critical violations in Food for Thought. It's a double whammy for a couple of restaurant chains. If you're a lover of Arby's roast beef sandwiches, stop reading!

The Arby's at 5052 Frankford Avenue is our first low performer. Arby's four critical violations were given for:

• Shredded cheese held at 52 degrees.. Seven degrees above the required cold hold of 45 degrees.
• Chicken strips were in a hot hold unit at 125 degrees, 15 degrees below the required hot hold of 140.
• Boiled eggs and grilled chicken were not date marked.
• Hot water was not available at a hand washing sink. The valve was off.

All critical violations were corrected on site. A manager tells NewsChannel 11 the health inspector came in after a rush. They'll try to do better in the future.

Our second low performer is another Arby's at 4020 82nd Street. The 82nd Street location received five critical violations.

• Shredded cheese was held at 57 degrees.
• Employees were observed putting on gloves without washing their hands.
• A hand washing sink was soiled.
• Ready to eat, potentially hazardous foods, such as cheese turkey and ham were not date marked.
• Soda machine nozzles were soiled and moldy.

All critical violations were corrected on site. A manager tells NewsChannel 11 they take their inspection reports very seriously and they are disappointed in their score. They've made a management change and are addressing the issues.

Arby's is not alone at having a tough week with health inspections. The Little Panda also takes two spots on the low performer list this week. The first is at 6302 Frankford Avenue. This location had five critical violations.

• Beef was found thawing in water at 64 degrees.
• Hot egg rolls were found at 127 degrees.
• The hand washing sink was soiled.
• Kitchen utensils were being used to scoop raw chicken and cooked beef. Raw chicken was found mixed with the cooked beef.
• An employee was observed washing kitchen utensils using only water... no soap or sanitizer.

All critical violations were corrected on site. A manager could not be reached for comment.

Bad news struck again for the Little Panda at 7412 University Avenue. That location had a whopping seven critical violations.

• Employees were observed not washing their hands between job duties.
• A bell pepper, a lemon and rice were found in unsound condition.
• Employees were not properly washing hands and using gloves or sanitizer to handle food.
• Raw meats were stored over vegetables, creating a cross contamination hazard.
• Potentially hazardous foods were not date marked.
• A hand washing facility was not accessible
• Toxic items were not properly stored.

One critical violation was corrected on site. A manager could not be reached for comment.

Our last low performer is the only one of its kind in Lubbock, so you won't see it twice in this report. The Skillet's at 6622 Interstate 27 had five critical violations.

• Cold sausage links, sausage patties, and bacon were found at 54 and 55 degrees.
• An open-lided cup was being stored along with food in the kitchen area.
• Cucumbers were found in unsound condition.
• An in line unit was not working during the time of inspection, but repair service was requested.
• A spatula was broken and containers for food storage were soiled.

Three of the five critical violations were corrected on site. A manager tells NewsChannel 11 their cooling unit has been repaired and all other violations have been corrected.