Food for Thought Report 7.26 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

It's now a half-dozen perfect inspections for Chef Matt Britton at La Bowski's at 1205 13th Street.

And you have your choice of top performers inside United Market Street at 3405 50th Street. The Coffee Shop, Deli, Grocery and Fish and Meat Markets were all flawless in their latest health inspection.

Food for Thought 7.26 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 7/26/07.

Now to our low performers.

Manila Cafe at 4917 34th Street had six critical violations.

• Foods were holding as low as 85 degrees. They must be 135 degrees or hotter.
• Employees were washing their hands at a three-compartment sink. To avoid cross-contamination, hands must be washed in a designated hand wash sink.
• A hand sink was being used as a dump sink. The inspection states a brown liquid was in the sink.
• A bathroom did not have soap. The hand dryers in two bathrooms were not working.
• Flying insects were found in dry rice. And roaches were found in the flour.
• According to the report, the microwave was extremely filthy, and the utensil trays were heavily soiled. In addition - the towels underneath the trays were absorbent allowing bacteria to germinate.

The manager was not available to comment, but an employee said all violations have been corrected. The reports shows most of the violations were corrected at the time of the inspection.

Next we head to Wing Stop #2 at 5510 4th Street where inspectors also found six critical violations.

• Potatoes were not 41 degrees or below.
• Employee's personal food was stored where other food was being prepared. 
• A can was sharply dented.
• A bleach solution was too strong.
• A can opener and potato slicer were heavily soiled.
• The facility did not have a Heimlich chart posted.

The manager on duty, when we called, said all violations have been corrected. The report shows all but two of the violations were corrected at the time of the inspection.

And finally our last low performer with nine critical violations is Cafe' J at 2605 19th street.

• Several food items were not held below the safe temperature of 41 degrees.
• Uncovered personal drinks were not in a designated area.
• Employees were handling read to eat foods without gloves.
• According to the report, the brown sugar had clumps in it possibly caused by contact with a liquid. Ice being used to chill lemons was also used for beverages.
• Food items were not properly date-marked.
• A package of rice had weevils in it. The report states that the package also had holes in it indicating insect contamination.
• Toxic items were not properly stored.
• Sanitizer solutions were either too strong or not strong enough.
• Several food contact surfaces were soiled.

An owner of Cafe' J released this comment: "We disagree with several of the violations cited by the inspector, but are aggressively addressing everyone of them. The temperature problems were related to a cold table that had just been improperly serviced. It was corrected the same day, and it is being updated. At no time were any customers at risk of being served anything but healthy, well prepared food. All concerns raised by the inspector have been corrected."

According to the report, most of the violations were corrected while the inspector was there.