Restaurants in nearby Maricopa County hit with health violations

Slime on the soda nozzles and raw meat stored above ready-to-eat product were some of the violations handed out to nearby Maricopa County restaurants.

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.

If a restaurant receives no award, they are later inspected to be given the opportunity to comply with the health inspector’s complaints. Here is a look at those locations and a few of the violations that caused them to not receive an award in February.

Native New Yorker, 1339 E. Chandler Blvd. – Observed two containers of pasta between 47*F and 51*F in reach-in prep cooler.

Heart Attack Grill, 6185 W. Chandler Blvd. – Observed hamburger press with visible signs of dried meat. Observed two spray bottles of unknown clear liquid stored in bar area and in “nurses” station. It was determined spray bottles were bleach water, and manager labeled accordingly.

Barro’s, 3233 E. Chandler Blvd. – Observed cooked chicken wings and ham in walk-in refrigerator without date mark. Observed pizza sauce from hermetically sealed can being stored on pizza counter at 68 degrees.

Sushi Ken, 4206 E. Chandler Blvd. – Observed employee handle dirty dishes then proceed to put away clean dishes without washing hands first. Observed raw breaded chicken being stored over raw breaded pork and raw fish in reach-in cooler behind fryer. Observed raw fish being stored over imitation crab and crab salad in sushi coolers. Observed raw chicken being stored. Observed accumulation of black slime mold in interior of ice machine and in soda nozzles.

Mimi’s Cafe, 4901 E. Ray Road - Observed employee crack raw eggs, remove gloves and don new pair of gloves without washing hands first. Observed upright refrigerator unit next to fryers holding at 71 degrees.

Thai Basil, 4221 E. Chandler Blvd. – Observed cook take off hat and touch hair then proceed to start prepping food without removing gloves and washing hands. Observed employee filling water pitchers for customer use in hand washing sink in kitchen. Observed cook use tongs for raw beef then grab mint leaves with same tongs then place tongs back into raw beef.

Keegans, 4723 E. Ray Road – Observed cheese, sliced melon, multiple deli meats and sour cream on salad prep table line between 50 and 58 degrees for 3 hours, per manager. Observed accumulation of chunky, clear slime mold growth on interior of ice machine.

(Editor’s note: InMaricopa.com will list the health inspections for Maricopa, Casa Grande and nearby Valley eateries each month. Maricopa eateries’ inspections will publish the first Tuesday of every month; Casa Grande the second Tuesday; and nearby Valley restaurants the third Tuesday.)

Submitted photo