Food for Thought Report 10.27 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Food for Thought Report 10.27

We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but there were four low performing restaurants this week in Food for Thought. On the bright side though, we found a place where you can eat a special kind of ice cream almost guilt free! Ronnie Brown, owner of Caffe Gelato says, "We're the only gelato as far as we know between the metroplex area and Denver."

Food for Thought 10.27 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 10/27/05.

Open for about a year now, Caffe Gelato located at 5903 82nd Street off Frankford specializes in more than italian ice cream, they've mastered health inspections and become a top performing restaurant. But what exactly is the difference between gelato and regular ice cream?  Brown says, "Regular ice cream is made with 80 to 90% air and we're made with almost no air. It's a lot denser, there's a third of the butter fat in gelato and less calories and it just tastes better." Tastes better and less calories, now that's amore!

We also have two more top performers: The Burger House at 5107 29th Drive and Sister Restaurant at 2001 Clovis Road.

Our first low performer is the United Market Street Restaurant. It had five critical violations.

• Employees were not properly washing their hands.
• Beef products were found in unsound condition.
• Watermelon and cooked hamburger had an expired datemark.
• A handwashing facility did not have soap.
• Food contact services were not being properly cleaned and stored.

All the violations were corrected on site. United says they did not happen due to a lack of strict policies and procedures. Eddie Owens, United spokesperson, says, "It has brought up the need to go through retraining of our entire food service staff. That is already in the process. Our food safety specialist will start classes tomorrow and continue through Monday and Tuesday of next week." United Supermarkets did have several departments in several stores that had perfect or close to perfect inspections.

Durango's Restaurant at 4001 19th Street is also a low performer with five critical violations. The most serious violation was recieved for cooked chili rellenos that were stored above the required cold temperature. Manager Ana Astorga says, "We have to get them cooler a little faster. Usually we take our time putting them in the bins and getting them in the cooler." Durango's was also cited for:

• Employees not washign their hands between tasks.
• Employees handling ready to eat food without using sanitizer, gloves or utensils.
• A cutting board that had a soiled rag on top, creating a risk of cross contamination.
• Soiled plates stored with clean plates.

Each violation has been corrected. Astorga says, "The food was perfect, the line was perfect, some of the employees weren't being very careful. We always try to make sure our customers are well being taken care of."

Garcia's at 5402 Slide had six critical violations this week:

• A walk in cooler was not cooling properly.
• Cooks were not washing their hands when changing gloves.
• Raw beef stored above cheese and milk created cross contamination.
• A handwashing sink in the kitchen had been removed because it was broken.
• Food was stored in damaged containers.
• There were no papertowels in the cook's restroom. 

Garcia's owner tells NewsChannel 11 the cooler and handsink were fixed immediately. She says she always keeps up with the latest health requirements and her main concern is the safety of her customers.

Taqueria Jalisco at 2211 Avenue Q had seven critical violations.

• Cold foods were found above the required temperature.
• Dented cans were found in the storage area.
• A bucket in the ice maker created a risk of cross contamination.
• An employee drink without a lid was in the kitchen area and food in the walk in cooler was not properly labeled.
• A reach in cooler was not maintaining the proper temperature.
• A cooler did not have a thermometer.
• Food contact surfaces were not clean. 

All critical violations were corrected on site.  A manager had no further comment.