Construction during operating hours temporarily closes Springfield restaurant this week

Construction during business hours temporarily closed down a Springfield restaurant on Nov. 28, according to a Springfield-Greene County Health Department food inspection report.

A complaint spurred an inspection of the Subway at 3860 W. Chestnut Expressway on that date. The inspector observed "food and food contact surfaces contaminated with construction dust," which led to the suspension of the restaurant's permit.

A follow-up report noted that the Subway reopened the next day, Nov. 29, after the staff and owner cleaned up construction debris and agreed to protect the food and food-contact surfaces with plastic sheeting as needed and to clean up the area prior to starting food prep. The Subway also agreed to have construction work done after business hours.

Food inspections take place one to three times a year, depending on the type of food served, the population served, difficulty of food preparation and past history. Restaurants preparing food from raw ingredients are inspected more often "than convenience stores that serve only non-potentially hazardous foods, such as popcorn and soda," according to the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.

Each report identifies what was happening at the establishment at that time. Consumers who want to know whether a violation is a one-time thing or a pattern are encouraged to refer to previous reports.

More: Frequent reader of Greene County food inspections? Here's what inspectors want you to know

Issues found during inspection fall into either priority or non-priority violations. Priority violations impact the safety of the food, such as cross contamination between raw and ready-to-eat food, improper food temperature and poor personal hygiene and employee health. Multiple priority violations can lead to an establishment being shut down. Non-priority violations alone do not directly affect food safety, such as dirty floors, sticky tabletops or outside trash cans not being covered.

Here are food inspections from the past week:

Andy's Frozen Custard, 509 S. National Ave., Springfield. Nov. 27 routine inspection – Result: permitted with re-inspection. A re-inspection is planned for Nov. 29 to check hopper 1 temperature. Staff were to monitor this hopper very closely and check temperatures every 30 minutes or so and to take appropriate actions if out of temperature. One priority violation: Observed chocolate custard in hopper 1 was at 48 degrees, staff voluntarily discarded product. No non-priority violations.

Andy's Frozen Custard, 509 S. National Ave., Springfield. Nov. 29 re-inspection – Result: active. Facility was monitoring and taking extra actions to ensure custard mixes were staying at safe temperatures and have unit scheduled for service later today. No violations noted.

Arris' Pizza, 1332 E. Republic Road, Springfield. Nov. 28 routine inspection – Result: active. Two priority violations: Observed can opener was dirty with metal shavings and accumulation of food debris, slicer found dirty with food debris on drying rack, four metal spoons dirty with food staining and debris, and all items were washed, rinsed and sanitized during the inspection; observed three unlabeled spray bottles filled with blue sanitizer, manager removed bottles and properly labeled them, education given and corrected on site. One non-priority violation: Observed ready-to-eat garlic stored uncovered on metal pan on walk-in cooler floor, which was discarded by employee and corrected on site, education given.

Bee-Transformed/Honey Heaven, 307 W. Glenwood St., Springfield. Nov. 27 routine inspection – Result: active. No priority violations. One non-priority violation: Observed floor in cooler and freezer area not clean, observed floor in pizza-wrapping area not clean, education provided.

Big Momma's Coffee & Espresso, 1010 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield. Nov. 30 routine inspection – Result: active. No priority violations. One non-priority violation: Observed handwashing sink initially not accessible due to boxes blocking it, which was corrected by employee moving boxes to proper area.

More: CDC says 9 Missourians ill with Salmonella connected with recalled cantaloupe

Common Grounds Coffee & Cafe, LLC, 109 E. Pine St., Strafford. Nov. 24 inspection – Result: active. No violations noted.

Domino's Pizza, 538 S. National Ave., Springfield. Nov. 27 routine inspection – Result: active. No violations noted.

Flat Creek Bar and Grill, 772 E. U.S. Highway 60 East, Republic. Nov. 28 complaint inspection – Result: permitted with re-inspection. One priority violation: Observed three vacuum-packed items of brown gravy, one of baked beans and two of macaroni and cheese in walk-in cooler with no date or time label, which were voluntarily discarded. Repeat violation. No non-priority violation.

Green House, 431 S. Jefferson Ave., Springfield. Nov. 28 routine inspection – Result: active. No violations noted at time of inspection.

Hampton Inn Springfield Southeast, 3370 E. Montclair St., Springfield. Nov. 29 routine inspection – Result: active. No violations.

Harter House - Meat, 1500 E. Republic Road, Springfield. Nov. 27 routine inspection – Result: active. One priority violation: Observed seven unlabeled spray bottles filled with clear liquid, which were corrected by properly labeling or discarding. One non-priority violation: Observed two Windex spray bottles improperly stored on their side inside of shipping box of canned apples, corrected by removing bottles and placing them in safe location.

Harter House - Retail/Produce, 1500 E. Republic Road, Springfield. Nov. 27 routine inspection – Result: active. One priority violation: Observed five dented cans in world flavors section, which was corrected on site by discarding due to denting in top and bottom seams. No non-priority violations.

Kum & Go No. 464, 2704 S. Campbell Ave., Springfield. Nov. 27 routine inspection – Result: active. No violations noted.

More: Bolivar school leader seeks apology to voters — and promise that ban won't happen again

Kum & Go No. 468, 609 E. Elm St., Springfield. Nov. 29 routine inspection – Result: active. No priority violations. Two non-priority violations: Observed mold in area behind some of the self-service soda nozzles; observed coving missing or loose in kitchen area.

Logan-Rogersville H.S. Basketball/Volleyball Concessions, 300 N. Missouri Blvd., Rogersville. Nov. 29 routine inspection – Result: active. One priority violation: Observed two unlabeled spray bottles, one filled with a green liquid and one filled with a clear liquid, which was corrected on site by discarding both since employee did not know what they were filled with. No non-priority violations.

Mimi's Soulfood LLC, 533 S. Kimbrough Ave., Springfield. Nov. 27 re-inspection – Result: permitted with re-inspection. On site for re-inspection due to cold holding violation in the prep cooler. Prep cooler is not holding 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Re-inspection will occur to verify cooler is fixed/replaced and can maintain 41 degrees or below. No priority violations. One non-priority violation: Observed final air temperature in cooler at 49 degrees, but no potentially hazardous foods are being stored in this cooler at this time.

Pasta Express, 3250 E. Battlefield Road, Springfield. Nov. 29 routine inspection – Result: active. Two priority violations: Observed four rodent bait stations uncovered and tamper-prone, corrected on site by discarding bait stations; observed three rubber spatulas were cracked and chipped, corrected on site by owner discarding spatulas. One non-priority violation: Observed ice development on two boxes of cookie dough and one box of Danish pastries in walk-in freezer, corrected on site by owner discarding boxes.

Rapid Roberts No. 130, 3405 S. Campbell Ave., Springfield. Nov. 27 routine inspection – Result: active. No priority violations. One non-priority violation: Observed no color comparator for quat test strips, will send picture within 30 days.

Secret Sandwich Shop LLC, 208 W. McDaniel St., Springfield. Nov. 28 routine inspection – Result: active. No violations cited.

More: Here's what makes Springfield-Branson Airport's massive new fire truck special

Sonic Drive-In of Springfield, MO, 1642 E. Republic Road, Springfield. Nov. 29 routine inspection – Result: active. One priority violation: Observed diced tomatoes holding at 56 degrees, corrected by placing on time control and discussing using time control on days that there are special promotions. One non-priority violation: Observed daylight coming through where back door and frame meet, will send picture of correction within 30 days.

Subway No. 22292, 3860 W. Chestnut Expressway, Springfield. Nov. 28 complaint inspection – Result: suspend permit. Permit suspended due to food/food contact surfaces contaminated with construction dust. Facility closed for cleaning and discarding contaminated foods. Reinspection will occur to verify all necessary cleaning is completed. No violations noted.

Subway No. 22292, 3860 W. Chestnut Expressway, Springfield. Nov. 29 suspended permit inspection – Result: approved. Staff and owner had cleaned up the construction debris and agreed to have work done after hours and the protect with plastic sheeting as needed and to clean up area prior to beginning food preparation in the morning. No violations noted.

The Habit Coffee Company LLC, 5035 S. State Highway 125, Rogersville. Nov. 29 routine inspection – Result: active. Two priority violations: Observed zero parts per million chlorine solution in three-vat sink with ware and utensils submerged, corrected on site to 50 to 100 ppm chlorine and education provided; observed no date marking on sausage burritos prepared Monday, Nov. 27, corrected by date marking with correct use-by dates and future violations will result in potentially hazardous food being discarded. Two non-priority violations: Observed three-vat sink draining slowly; observed no test strips for sanitizer, should send photo of test strips within 30 days.

Tinga Tacos - Duberry LLC, 308 W. McDaniel St., Springfield. Nov. 28 routine inspection – Result: active. One priority violation: Observed multiple dented cans, education provided and corrected by person in charge removing cans and placing them to side to return to supplier. No non-priority violations.

More: Dreading your winter heating bills? Here's how to save on gas, electricity

Urban Air Adventure Park, 2825 S. Glenstone Ave., Springfield. Nov. 27 re-inspection – Result: active. At time of re-inspection, sanitizer dispenser was operating properly. No violations noted.

W.F. Codys, 3138 E. Sunshine St., Springfield. Nov. 27 routine inspection – Result: active. No violations noted.

Waffle House No. 448, 3135 N. Glenstone Ave., Springfield. Nov. 28 routine inspection – Result: active. Facility is planning to re-open to the public on Nov. 29 at 7 a.m. No priority violations. Three non-priority violations: Observed ice bin on front counter was not clean; observed some areas of counters and equipment were not cleaned up from construction debris; observed some areas of the floor not cleaned up after recent construction.

Walmart Supercenter No. 444 Deli, 3315 S. Campbell Ave., Springfield. Nov. 27 complaint inspection – Result: active. No violations noted.

Walmart Supercenter No. 444 Retail/Produce, 3315 S. Campbell Ave., Springfield. Nov. 27 routine inspection – Result: permitted with re-inspection. One priority violation: Observed section of open case cooler on North wall holding cheese at 43 degrees to 44 degrees, manager placed work order in immediately and agrees to move product if repair is not immediate. One non-priority violation: Observed seal on reach-in grocery pick-up cooler is in poor repair, replace seal.

Watkins School, 732 W. Talmage St., Springfield. Nov. 27 re-inspection – Result: active. No violations noted.

Susan Szuch is the health and public policy reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield restaurant temporarily closes due to construction