‘Many live roaches’ + ‘black-green mold’: Triangle restaurant sanitation scores (Oct. 10)
The News & Observer publishes a regular roundup of restaurant sanitation scores to keep you up-to-date on the health grades at Triangle dining 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 food-borne 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 Triangle counties from Sept. 20 to Oct. 10.
Wake County sanitation scores
The Wake County sanitation grades database shows that at least 100 restaurant inspections were completed Sept. 20 to Oct. 10.
▪ All restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Wake County at wake-nc.healthinspections.us.
Durham County sanitation scores
The Durham County inspection management system shows 73 restaurant inspections were completed Sept. 20 to Oct. 10.
▪ Most restaurants received an A grade.
▪ One restaurant received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.
La Isla Del Mar (315 Foushee St. in Durham) received a score of 81% during an inspection on Sept. 17.
The restaurant was in violation of 14 standards. Of these, eight were considered critical violations.
Serious violations included observing employees enter the kitchen from outside the restaurant and begin handling food without washing their hands, and finding visible “black-green mold growth” on cutting boards.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
- The restaurant previously scored 81.5% in September 2022 and 81.5% in December 2021.
▪ No restaurants received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but lower than 80%.
▪ No restaurants received a failing grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Durham County at bit.ly/3pVQfpG.
Orange County sanitation scores
The Orange County inspection management system shows that 60 restaurant inspections were completed Sept. 20 to Oct. 10.
▪ All restaurants received an A grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Orange County at bit.ly/3eQqpxc.
Johnston County sanitation scores
The Johnston County sanitation inspections database shows that at least 100 restaurant inspections were completed Sept. 20 to Oct. 10.
▪ Most restaurants received an A grade.
▪ One restaurant received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.
Salsa Azteca Clayton (8928 US Hwy 70 Business West Suite 500 in Clayton) received a score of 83% during an inspection on Sept. 25.
The restaurant was in violation of 23 standards. Of these, 14 were considered critical violations.
Serious violations included finding “many live roaches” in the kitchen and observing an employee walk into the back door of the kitchen from outside and resume food prep without first washing hands.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection. The restaurant scored 95% on re-inspection on Oct. 5.
- The restaurant previously scored 95.5% in June 2023 and.
▪ No restaurants received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but lower than 80%.
▪ No restaurants received a failing grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Johnston County at johnston-nc.healthinspections.us.
Chatham County sanitation scores
The Chatham County inspections management system shows that that 16 restaurant inspections were completed Sept. 20 to Oct. 10.
▪ All restaurants received an A grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Chatham County at bit.ly/3JfiHwq.
