Nearby Maricopa County restaurants cited for health violations

Raw shrimp stored above cooked shrimp, green slime growing from ice containers and other violations were among the citations handed out to nearby restaurants in January by the Maricopa County Health Department.

The county routinely inspects restaurants to ensure the quality and safety of food. Health inspectors look for violations, such as storing food at improper temperatures, not washing hands or other maintenance and safety issues.

Each of these violations is assigned a point value, which is then used to determine a restaurant’s score. A gold star is the highest ranking possible and means a business scored in the top 25 percent; a silver star denotes a restaurant scoring in the middle 50 percent, and no award means a restaurant scored in the bottom 25 percent.

Here is a look at 15 nearby restaurants inspected in January grouped by score type with some of the major violations noted.

No award

Hooters
4804 E. Chandler Blvd.
Observed black organic slime mold in ice machine and in holster and soda nozzle in bar area.
Observed open package of hot dogs in walk-in refrigerator that per manager had been opened more than 24 hours prior

Quiznos Subs
1118 E. Baseline Road
Cooler with sealed Mountain Dew bottles stored inside with black organic debris inside on shelves at time of inspection. Only one employee out of six has food-service worker card. Metal holding pans and can opener blade with layered food debris.

Rock Bottom Restaurant
14205 S. 50th St.
Observed pre-cooked and reheated beef short ribs in hot holding unit at 127 degrees for four hours observed deli slicer and dicer/chopper stored away clean but with visible accumulation of food debris.

Dos Gringos Grille
8000 S. Priest Drive
Ready-to-eat potentially hazardous foods are not correctly date-marked. In reach-in across from grill, uncovered container of raw shrimp stored on top of container of cooked (per employee) shrimp.

Silver Award

Honey Bears BBQ
7670 S. Priest Drive
Large container of cooked beans date-marked to be discarded previous day stored in walk-in available for use; manager discarded. Interior surface of six non-stick pans are severely scratched, with coating flaking off; manager discarded.

Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits 
1619 W. Baseline Road
Employee’s hands and exposed arms not clean and properly washed.

Great Wok
3646 E. Ray Road
Grocery bags used to store unwrapped meats in freezer and in reach-in.

Hong Kong Gourmet Buffet
4909 E. Chandler Blvd.
Observed food debris in the employee hand sink; observed food containers for dry goods with build up inside and outside; observed several containers of salads without date-mark stored in a walk-in refrigerator.

Macayo’s Restaurant
12637 S. 48th St.
Broken gaskets.

On The Border
5005 E. Ray Road
Cold, potentially hazardous foods not held at 41 degrees; observed mixer for salsa stored away clean, but with visible signs of food debris.

Arriba Mexican Grill
4649 E. Chandler Blvd.
Cold, potentially hazardous foods not held at 41 degrees or below.

Asian Grill
10325 E. Riggs Road
Chemical sanitizer not at proper concentration and/or hot water for sanitization at improper temperature.

Red Robin
1375 W. Elliot Road
Cold, potentially hazardous foods not held at 41 degrees or below.

Gold Award

Cracker Barrel
5022 E. Chandler Blvd.

Rumbi Island Grill
885 N. 54th St.

Claim Jumper Restaurant
1530 W. Baseline Road

To read the full inspections visit http://www.maricopa.gov/Default.aspx

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Editor’s note: InMaricopa.com will list the heath inspections for Maricopa, Casa Grande and nearby Valley eateries each month. Maricopa eateries’ inspections will be looked at the first Tuesday of every month, Casa Grande the second Tuesday and Valley restaurants the third Tuesday.

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