5 Triangle restaurants with B grades: This week’s sanitation scores (Feb. 16)
The News & Observer is publishing a weekly round-up of restaurant sanitation scores to keep you up-to-date on the health grades at Triangle spots.
Sanitation scores and their corresponding letter grades are used in North Carolina to assess restaurants’ adherence to rules and standards intended to mitigate and prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses.
You’ve likely seen sanitation grade cards at restaurants you’ve visited, and The N&O previously explained what those scores mean and how they’re calculated.
Here are sanitation scores in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties for the week of Feb. 9-16.
Wake County sanitation scores
The Wake County sanitation grades database shows 100 restaurants that were inspected between Feb. 9-16.
▪ Most restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
▪ Three restaurants received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.
El Patron (421 Chapanoke Rd. #103 in Raleigh) received a score of 87% during an inspection on Feb. 11.
- The restaurant was in violation of 29 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to two points.
- Violations included the restaurant not having a designated person in charge at the start of the inspection, one hand-washing sink not being readily accessible for employees and another lacking hand soap, juicers and dicers with food debris present being stored as clean, foods being stored at the wrong cooling temperature and cooked beef, shrimp and fish being stored without proper date markings.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection, the inspection report shows.
The restaurant previously scored a 95% in November and July 2021, and a 97.5% in April 2021.
The Dominican Restaurant (3601 Capital Blvd., Suite 107 in Raleigh) received a score of 86% during an inspection on Feb. 15.
- The restaurant was in violation of 22 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to two points.
- Violations included an employee not changing gloves or washing their hands after touching raw meat, raw eggs being stored over ready-to-eat foods, several foods being held at improper cooling temperatures and containers of beef and pork not having proper date markings.
- Some violations were corrected during the inspection, the inspection report shows.
- The restaurant previously scored a 98% in October 2021, a 98.5% in June 2021 and a 94.5% in January 2021.
The Reserve at Mills Farm (1000 Mills Chase Loop in Apex), a dining facility at a senior living community, received a score of 87% during an inspection on Feb. 9.
- The restaurant was in violation of 23 state standard, with point deductions ranging from zero to .5 points.
- Violations included there being no one present at the time of the inspection who was “able to answer the questions about food safety,” raw beef being stored above cooked, ready-to-eat turkey, several kitchen tools having “visible residue or food debris” on them and raw onions being stored on the floor.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection, the inspection report shows.
The facility previously scored a 97.5% in July 2021 and a 99% in both March 2021 and December 2020.
▪ No restaurants in Wake County received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but less than 80%.
▪ No restaurants received a failing grade, or a score below 70%.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Wake County by using the county’s inspection grades database at wake-nc.healthinspections.us.
Durham County sanitation scores
The Durham County inspection management system shows that 33 restaurant inspections were completed between Feb. 9-16.
▪ Most restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
▪ Two restaurants received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.
Chili’s (4600 Chapel Hill Blvd. in Durham) received a score of 85.5% during an inspection on Feb. 15.
- The restaurant was in violation of 17 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to three points.
- Violations included several foods being stored without lids in reach-in coolers, which can lead to cross-contamination; the soda gun at the bar having “thick black debris” at the nozzle head; several cold foods being stored at too warm of temperatures; and “heavy food debris and build up” being present on floors throughout the facility.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection, the inspection report shows.
The restaurant previously scored a 90% in October 2021 and a 92.5% in both May 2021 and October 2020.
Wang’s Garden (826 Fayetteville St. in Durham) received a score of 80% during an inspection on Feb. 14.
- The restaurant was in violation of 19 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to four points.
- Violations included employees not washing their hands at the beginning of their shifts, no paper towels being available in the restroom, raw chicken and pork being stored above ready-to-eat foods and cooked and cooled foods lacking proper date markings.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection, the inspection report shows.
The restaurant previously scored an 81.5% in May 2021, an 88% in September 2020 and an 87.5% in November 2019.
▪ No restaurants in Durham County received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but less than 80%.
▪ No restaurants received a failing grade, or a score below 70%.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Durham County using the county’s inspections database at bit.ly/3pVQfpG.
Orange County sanitation scores
The Orange County inspection management system shows that 12 restaurants were inspected between Feb. 9-16.
▪ All 12 restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Orange County using the county’s inspections database at bit.ly/3eQqpxc.
Johnston County sanitation scores
The Johnston County sanitation inspections database shows that 15 restaurants were inspected between Feb. 9-16.
▪ All 15 restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Johnston County using the county’s inspections database at johnston-nc.healthinspections.us.
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 12:29 PM.
