Roaches and expired food: This week’s Triangle restaurant sanitation scores (Oct. 4)
The News & Observer publishes 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 Sept. 27-Oct. 4.
Wake County sanitation scores
The Wake County sanitation grades database shows 100 inspections that were completed between Sept. 27-Oct. 4.
▪ 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%.
Anise Pho (222 Glenwood Ave. #113, Raleigh) received a score of 88% during an inspection on Sept. 30.
The restaurant was in violation of 17 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to two points.
Violations included a food employee changing tasks without changing gloves in between, raw shrimp being stored above ready-to-eat vegetables in a flip-top cooler, heavy food debris on the meat slicer, several foods being stored without dates on them and live and dead roaches throughout the kitchen.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
The restaurant previously scored a 95% in May.
Carolina Ale House (2240 Walnut St., Cary) received a score of 86% during an inspection on Sept. 30.
The restaurant was in violation of 17 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to two points.
Violations included employees not washing their hands in between changing gloves, several foods being held at incorrect temperatures, several house and drain flies in the kitchen and the ceiling above the food preparation table “actively leaking.”
Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
The restaurant previously scored a 91% in June, a 90.5% in February and a 94.5% in November 2021.
Sushi O (222 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh) received a score of 87% during an inspection on Sept. 28.
The restaurant was in violation of 18 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to three points.
Violations included an employee handling raw seafood with gloved hands, then washing the gloves and reusing them; raw shrimp being stored above ready-to-eat vegetables in a cooler; several food items that were prepared earlier in the week being stored without dates on them; and a food employee preparing food without a hairnet.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
The restaurant previously scored a 92% in May, a 96% in November 2021 and a 99% in May 2021.
▪ 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 37 restaurant inspections were completed between Sept. 27-Oct. 4.
▪ 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%.
Hayti Collective Kitchen & Cocktails (908-101 Fayetteville St., Durham) received a score of 84% during an inspection on Sept. 30.
The restaurant was in violation of 18 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to three points.
Violations included employees changing tasks without changing their gloves or washing their hands, raw eggs being stored above cooked chicken in the walk-in cooler and several foods being held at incorrect temperatures. The inspector noted that “better control” of the facility is needed.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
The restaurant previously scored a 92% in May and a 94% in December 2021.
La Cocina #9 (2121 TW Alexander Dr., Suite 119, Morrisville) received a score of 80.5% during an inspection on Sept. 29.
The restaurant was in violation of 15 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to four points.
Violations included an employee handling raw meat, then changing tasks and not changing their gloves or washing their hands in between; an employee handling ready-to-eat foods without gloves; raw shrimp and fish being stored on top of salsa; and sever foods being held at incorrect temperatures.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
The restaurant previously scored an 85% in August, a 93.5% in January and a 97% in September 2021.
Sheraton Imperial Hotel (4700 Emperor Blvd., Durham) received a score of 88% during an inspection on Sept. 27.
The facility was in violation of 17 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to three points.
Violations included several foods being held at incorrect temperatures, items being held past their use-by dates, other items being stored with incorrect dates or none at all and some foods being stored on the floor of a walk-in cooler.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
The facility previously scored a 91.5% in December 2021, a 96% in June 2021 and a 97% in December 2020.
▪ 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 13 restaurants were inspected between Sept. 27-Oct. 4.
▪ All 13 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 25 restaurants were inspected between Sept. 27-Oct. 4.
▪ All 25 restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
You’ve seen sanitation scores displayed at NC restaurants. What do they mean?
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