Food for Thought Report 4.21 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Rodent droppings throughout a local restaurant contributed to that establishment's nine critical violations last week. But first, this week's top performers.

The Home Plate Diner at 5712 82nd Street hit another homerun when health inspectors threw them a curve ball, surprise health inspection last week. Zero is the winning score in this game, Home Plate had no critical violations.

get more>> Web Enhanced 4/21/05 Food for Thought 4.21 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 4/21/05.

Jumbo Joe's at 3218 34th Street rivals that score. They also had zero critical violations during their last inspection.

Next, open just a matter of months and their already a repeat top performer. La' Bowski's at 1205 13th Street keeps reeling in top performer honors. The perfect spot for breakfast or lunch has perfected more than great food.

Last but not least, Sazon at 1205 University also wowed inspectors. A sassy salsa place, they too had zero critical violations.

Now for the not so perfect news. TGI Friday's at 6201 Slide Road is a low performer this week. Friday's had five critical violations:

• Foreign objects were observed inside bottles of drinks at the bar.
• Dented cans were found in the food storage room.
• Potentially hazardous ready to eat foods were not date marked.
• A spray bottle was not labeled.
• Two cutting boards were soiled.

All critical violations were corrected on site. A manager says, "The health and safety of our guests and employees is one of our top priorities and something we take very seriously. The items that were noted during our recent health inspection were immediately addressed, and at no time was the health and safety of our guests or employees at risk."

Little Panda at 1213 University Avenue is low performer number two, also with five critical violations.

• Cooked fish was found at 109 degrees, the required hot temperature is 140 degrees or higher.
• A hand sink was being used to fill bowls with water.
• Dented cans were found in storage.
• Cooked ribs in a reach in cooler were not in a sanitized container and an employee was using the same utensil when handling raw beef, raw chicken, and cooked pork.
• A spray bottle containing a toxic substance was not labeled.

The violations were corrected on site. A manager declined to comment.

Our lowest low performer this week received nine criticals. Conference Cafe at 3216 4th Street had a rough inspection so we went to Conference and tried to get a manager to explain. We were told the managers were out running errands and to call back about the following violations:

• A bowl of lemons was found inside the ice maker.
• A bottle of bloody mary mix was sitting at room temperature. The mix should have been cooled to 41 degrees after being opened.
• A hand washing sink was not accessible.
• A hand washing sink did not have hand towels available.
• The inspector noted a severe rodent problem. Droppings were found in the walk in cooler, an office desk, along a wall and under the sink.
• Spray bottle were not properly labeled and stored.
• A mechanical ware washer was not properly sanitizing.
• Coolers did not have thermometers present.
• Drink nozzles were moldy.

Eight of conference cafe's nine violations were corrected on site. When we called back for a manager he would not go on camera, but he did say the remaining violation was addressed the next morning. The restaurant was re-inspected and they are working hard to improve. For the record, Conference Cafe did bring in an exterminator to deal with their rodent problem.