Food for Thought Report 12.20 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Our first stop on the list of top performers is a newcomer to Food for Thought and to Lubbock.

Texas Creek Grill at 6012 82nd Street opened its doors less than three weeks ago with cleanliness being one of their top priorities, "Food born illness is not a joke. It's something that will kill you," says co-owners Lesley "Bubba" Green.

Bubba and Debbie Tello say they try to brig customers the true taste of Texas cooking mixed with south of the border favorites, "(My dad and I) have experience with Mexican food, and Bubba has experience with steaks and home cooking, and we thought let's combine both."

"We use mesquite and cherry wood (to cook the steaks). We cook some of the biggest burgers you've ever seen, chicken fried steaks and chicken fingers. You name it we got it."

Our next two stops are no strangers to Food for Thought. Taco Villa at 1911 50th Street and Sonic Drive-In at 8010 University are both repeat top performers.

This downtown hot spot is brewing up perfection. Stein's Coffee and Sandwiches at 1406 Avenue Q is known for it's eclectic flare, healthy sandwiches and delicious wraps. Now, you can add top performer to that as well.

Don't want to cook this Christmas? Let Glazed Honey Ham Co. at 3424 82nd St. do it for you. From their signature spiral sliced glazed honey ham to their Cajun spiced fried turkeys, they make gift giving as easy as pie.

And if you're looking for last minute Christmas goodies, stop by Hickory Farms inside the South Plains Mall. Their last health inspection was flawless.

Food for Thought 12.20 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 12/20/07.

Now to our two low performers.

McDonald's at 702 W. Loop 289 had five critical violations.

• Cheese, eggs and milk were not 41 degrees or below.
• Pickles were in a hand sink.
• An employee wearing gloves handled money and then handled chicken nuggets without changing gloves.
• There was no documentation of when tomatoes or cheese should be thrown out.
• The microwave was heavily soiled. Other items in the kitchen were also dirty, including; scoops and utensils. And the soda nozzles were moldy.

Management says all violations were corrected during the inspection. The report states that as well.

Lin's Buffet at 5608 Slide had six critical violations.

• Pasta, hard-boiled eggs and shredded cheese were all above 41 degrees.
• Several hot items, including; chicken, ribs, salmon and octopus were below 135 degrees.
• Two cans were dented.
• A sealed package of ribs was sitting in a pan with blood. An open package of hamburger was on top of the ribs. That pan was on top of tofu.
• There were no hand towels in the employee restroom.
• A sanitizer was too weak.

Management says all violations were corrected while the inspector was there. The report states that as well.