Food for Thought Report 2.24 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Food for Thought brings us a small variety of places this week; the basement of City Hall, then to a popular a hotel, but first away for a little taste of Philly. Eddie and Yolanda say nobody does Philly cheesesteaks quite like they do. They run Paddy's Original Philly Cheesesteak (our first top performer) just the two of them.

2/24/05 Food for Thought 2.24 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 2/24/05.

Located at 1101 Main Street, the restaurant was started by a friend of Yolanda Kelly's husband. When he decided to go back to Pennsylvania, Yolanda took over quite by mistake. She says, "I kinda got stuck with it after staying home for ten years." Stuck or not, Yolanda made the most of it and is enjoying her first time as a top performer. She explains, "There's just a lot we have to remember and after doing it for a while it becomes habit. Having a clean place says a lot about you and the people that work for you."

Our first low performer can be found in the basement of City Hall at 1625 13th Street. The City Cafe received five critical violations during their last health inspection.

• Eggs were found on a table at 61 degrees. Cold foods must be held at 45 degrees or cooler.
• Beans and potatoes on a steam table were held at 123 and 113 degrees. Hot foods must be held at 140 degrees or hotter.
• Employees were eating and drinking in the food prep area.
• Taco meat was not date marked.
• Cooking utensils were not in good repair.

All violations were corrected on site. The City Cafe manager tells NewsChannel 11 the health inspector came during the breakfast rush. She has taken food safety classes through the health department and takes health inspections very seriously.

Second and lastly, the Vintage Restaurant located inside the Four Points Sheraton on Avenue Q is also a low performer. The restaurant had seven critical violations.

• Melons were found at 50 degrees, cheese at 58 degrees, and deli meat at 58 degrees.
• Employees were not washing their hands between glove changes.
• Dented cans were found in dry storage.
• Bowls were stacked on top of uncovered salad and mushrooms.
• Baked potatoes and cooked beans were not date marked.
• A hand sink did not have paper towels.
• The ice machine was soiled.

Each critical violation was corrected during the inspection. NewsChannel 11 tried to call the restaurant, but the manager had no comment.

Health inspectors also inspected two schools last week. Ballenger Head Start had a perfect inspection.

O.L. Slaton Junior High had just one critical violation for mouse droppings in a storage area. Aramark School Support Services manage all LISD kitchens. They say an exterminator visits each location a minimum of once a month. He was contacted immediately and will make more frequent visits now to check in on O.L. Slaton.