Food for Thought Report 4.7 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Three Lubbock restaurants earn top honors this week.

• C.C.'s Bar and Grill at 1605 50th Street
• Country Plate Diner at 1301 50th Street
• Sonic Drive In at 7220 Quaker Avenue

All had perfect health inspections and are top performers.

Food for Thought 4.7 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 4/7/05.

A low performer bared it all and brought NewsChannel 11 inside their kitchen this week. They're challenging their health inspection and trying to claw their way to becoming a top performer, but they're facing a lot of obstacles along the way.

Hong Kong Super Buffet at 4845 50th invited us inside and started with reach in coolers the health inspection says were not equipped with thermometers. Owner Jennifer Lin explains, "This thermometer was here already. He didn't see it." Lin says all but one cooler was equipped with a thermometer during the inspection. We spoke with the health department and they said some of the thermometers were hidden and they must be in plain sight to monitor temperature.

Next violation: no date mark on potentially hazardous foods. Lin explained they go through cheese so fast they didn't think they needed a date on it. She says, "Before, the old inspector told me if the food is finished in one day, you don't have to date it." Hong Kong has started dating all food items, even if they are used quickly.

Next, broken egg shells were found inside egg trays in a walk-in cooler. Lin says they threw them away right away and keep an eye out for broken eggs. Also, dented cans were found on shelves. Lin showed NewsChannel 11 "We have signs there already so every employee knows." She says they move dented cans to a separate shelf and get rid of them.

Further violations include: A reach in cooler was holding at 70 degrees- well above the required 45 degrees or cooler. It has since been serviced, and two cutting boards needed to be replaced. Lin says they were discarded and replaced.

Lin says she and her staff are working hard to become a top performer and they are doing everything they can to keep their restaurant healthy. She says, "Everything is nice and clean. Every day we watch the kitchen very tight."

George's Restaurant at 5407 4th Street is also a low performer this week. Their four violations were given for:

• Black eyed peas found at 84 degrees and chicken soup at 96 degrees. Hot foods must stay at or above 140 degrees.
• Chili was found on a steam table at 125 degrees waiting to be reheated. Cold foods must be stored at 45 degrees or cooler.
• Cooked chicken was placed in the same container with raw beef and put in the refrigerator, plus cups stored too close to the hand sink were soiled. Both create a cross contamination hazard.
• Meat in a refrigerator had an inaccurate date mark.

A manager a George's tells NewsChannel 11 he had a family crisis and was not at the restaurant during the week of the inspection. He did discuss the violations with his employees.

Third and finally, Cattle Baron Restaurant is also on the low performing list. They had five critical violations.

• Potato skins were found on a service line at 60 degrees, cheese was held at 64 degrees and catfish inside a cooling unit was found at 54 degrees.
• Cooked chicken was held at 112 degrees and prime rib was held at 102 degrees.
• Cooked potatoes were not date marked.
• A cooling unit was missing a thermometer
• Knives were found soiled.

A manager from Cattle Baron tells NewsChannel 11 they have taken the proper steps to correct the violations. They have started using temperature logs to avoid problems with food temperatures.