The square block just west of campus, bound by East 13th Avenue, East 12th Avenue, Alder Street and Kincaid Street, is home to several restaurants students frequent. The Lane County Environmental Health Department inspects all restaurants in the county, including these restaurants, to ensure health codes are followed and writes semi-annual food service inspection reports for each restaurant.
According to Lane County’s food safety rules, if a restaurant obtains a sanitation score of less than 70 out of 100 points upon an unannounced complete inspection, the operator or person in charge is notified that the restaurant will be closed if the score of another inspection conducted within the next 30 days is not at least 70.
“We try to afford people the opportunity to correct things, and if they’re not willing to work at it, they’re going to be closed,” Lane County Environmental Health Department sanitarian Scott Kruger said. “But if people find out they’re going to be closed, they usually correct things and keep them corrected.”
Kruger described restaurant closure as a last resort.
“It’s not fun for them, and it’s not fun for us, either, so if we don’t have to go down that road, we won’t,” he said.
Points are deducted from a restaurant’s score for violations, which are divided into two categories: critical and non-critical. Restaurants determined to have critical violations, which pose direct threats to customer safety, are re-inspected within 14 days of the original inspection. If the violations are not corrected upon re-inspection, the restaurant may be closed.
Common critical violations found at University-area restaurants included not keeping foods above 140 or below 41 degrees Fahrenheit and storing raw meat above ready-to-eat foods.
China Blue Inn received a score of 80 on its last evaluation in November 2004. Because it had critical violations, including storing food at room temperature and storing raw meat and eggs above vegetables, Kruger came back for two more inspections until the problems were deemed corrected.
“He said we put something on (the) wrong plate,” China Blue Inn manager Li Tsui said, describing the inspection. However, Tsui added that the inspector gave detailed, written instructions on how to correct the violations.
“We follow everything,” Tsui said. “Right now, we do everything right.”
| Restaurant scores on most recent food service inspection reports (October 2004 to February 2005) Campus Sub Shop 99 Campus Glenwood 98 Quizno’s Classic Subs 98 Ben and Jerry’s 96 Espresso Roma 96 Starbucks Coffee 95 Hodgepodge 92 Sy’s Pizza 90 Barry’s Espresso & Bakery 90 Rennie’s Landing 89 Hana’s Restaurant 89 Caspian Mediterranean Café 85 Taylor’s Bar and Grille 83 Sakura Japanese Restaurant 82 China Blue Inn 80 Flying Dogs Café and Deli 80 Maple Garden Restaurant 72 |
Maple Garden Restaurant received the lowest score in the neighborhood, 72 out of 100 points. According to the November 2004 food service inspection report, the restaurant lost points for storing food at improper temperatures, holding chopped, cooked meats for longer than 24 hours and not date-labeling the meats, storing raw meats above ready-to-eat foods and storing knives with food debris, in addition to assorted non-critical violations. The violations were pronounced resolved after two follow-up visits by Kruger. As of press time, Maple Garden Restaurant could not be reached for comment.
Non-critical violations are not likely to immediately endanger the health of customers, but can detract from the restaurant’s general sanitary
condition. For example, seven of 17 restaurants surveyed were cited for not providing covered receptacles for feminine hygiene products in restrooms. This particular non-critical violation deducts two points from a restaurant’s evaluation score.
Many campus-area restaurants received high scores and no critical violations on their most recent evaluations: Campus Sub Shop, 99 points out of 100; Campus Glenwood, 98; Quizno’s Classic Subs, 98; Espresso Roma, 96; and Ben and Jerry’s, 96.
“We’re proud of making food that won’t make people sick,” Campus Sub Shop owner and manager Stan Garrett said.
Garrett explained the shop’s success as “just good employees that like their job and work hard at keeping the place clean and well cared for.”
Campus Sub Shop lost one point on its evaluation for not having test strips to measure the concentration of sanitizer solution used to clean restaurant areas.
“We mix our bleach by label instructions, by volume, so we have
the dilution exactly right always, but we didn’t have the test strip for it at the time,” Garrett said. “That was just an oversight.”
Kruger said the inspections are not necessarily infallible.
“I think you have to remember that we’re all human, too,” he said. “I think we do the best we can to catch everything, but you can’t ever catch everything all of the time.”
If a person wants to file a complaint about sanitary practices at a restaurant, Kruger said he or she should call the Lane County Department of Environmental Health at 682-4480. The receptionist will take the information and direct it to the sanitarian assigned to that restaurant. If the complainant leaves a name and phone number, the sanitarian may call the complainant to get more information. However, Kruger said, the complainant’s identity will never be revealed to the restaurant.
“If someone calls in a complaint, you are anonymous, period,” Kruger said.
The response to a complaint varies based on its nature. Kruger said if he receives a complaint that is fairly minor, such as no paper towels in the restroom, he will call the manager of the restaurant and tell the manager to keep the restroom stocked with paper towels. If a complaint is more serious, such as backed-up plumbing, Kruger said he will go to the restaurant and investigate.
Because complaints are handled on a case-by-case basis, Kruger said there is no set number of complaints a restaurant can receive before being closed, but if a restaurant constantly receives complaints, the department will seriously investigate.
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