Mouse poop, roaches & dirty pans: Worst Triangle restaurant scores in September

North Carolina health inspectors found multiple violations at restaurants in the Triangle in September.

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 food-borne illnesses.

Here are the restaurants that received the lowest scores in the last month.

Worst Wake County sanitation scores

Benny Capitale’s at 121 Fayetteville St #110 in Raleigh

• The restaurant received a score of 86% on Friday, Sept. 19 and was in violation of 15 standards.
• Violations included tongs put up as clean have build-up on them, chemical spray bottles found stored on the shelf with other food items, plus heavy residue and debris accumulation in low cold-hold units, storage racks and direct contact pizza racks.
• The restaurant previously scored 90.5% in November 2024 and 93.5% in February 2024.
• It has not been reinspected, according to county documents, as of publication.

Lucky Chicken II at 851 Bass Pro Ln. in Cary

• The restaurant received a score of 89% on Monday, Sept. 15 and was in violation of 11 standards.
• Violations included raw eggs above containers of produce in the walk-in cooler, cooked chicken, plantains and peppers in walk-in cooler were not date marked and shelving in the walk-in cooler had a white fuzzy residue in multiple spots.
• The restaurant previously scored 93% in February 2025 and 97% in February 2024.
• The restaurant was reinspected again on Sept. 24 and received a 94.5%.

Anthony’s La Piazza at 21 Glenwood Ave. in Raleigh

• The restaurant received a score of 86.5% on Thursday, Sept. 11 and was in violation of 13 standards.
• Violations included several dishes observed with leftover food debris and tape residue, wet stacking dishes and employees observed completing several different tasks without handwashing before moving onto the next task.
• The restaurant previously scored 97.5% in January 2025 and August 2024.
• The restaurant was reinspected again on Sept. 23 and received a 92.5%.

Oakwood Deli at 331 New Bern Ave. in Raleigh

• The restaurant received a score of 86% on Wednesday, Sept. 3 and was in violation of 19 standards.
• Violations included several knives being stored as clean observed with food debris along the blades, containers of food stored on the floor in kitchen area and a few flies observed in the kitchen.
• The restaurant previously scored 95.5% in April 2025. 
• The restaurant was reinspected again on Sept. 18 and received a 92%.

Sushi Mon #2 at 3800 Glenwood Ave #100 in Raleigh

• The restaurant received a score of 87% on Tuesday, Sept. 2 and was in violation of 16 standards.
• Violations included raw fish stored over ready-to-eat brussel sprouts and limes, and raw fish stored directly on the floor in the kitchen. A food employee was also seen handling raw scallops with gloved hands, then using the same hands to cover the food with plastic wrap without first washing hands so as to not contaminate the plastic wrap holder and other clean surfaces.
• The restaurant previously scored 94.5% in January 2025 and 96% in April 2024.
• The restaurant was reinspected again on Sept. 10 and received 93.5%.

Worst Durham County sanitation scores

IHOP at 1821 N Pointe Dr. in Durham

• The restaurant received a score of 84% on Monday, Sept. 29 and was in violation of 16 standards.
• Violations included a live cockroach observed on the floor in the cook line area, the facility served undercooked salmon without a parasite destruction letter and multiple items in the coolers found without covers.
• The restaurant previously scored 84.5% on Sept. 12 and was in violation of 14 standards.
• It has not been reinspected, according to county documents, as of publication.

Yaya Tea Golden Belt at 807 E Main St Ste 2-150 in Durham

• The restaurant received a score of 85% on Monday, Sept. 29 and was in violation of 17 standards.
• Violations included individuals handling food and clean equipment without washing hands after handling money, raw chicken stored above pork, which were both stored above noodles in an unapproved freezer, and none of the employees were wearing hair restraints during the inspection.
• The restaurant previously scored 87.5% in May 2025 and 88% in January 2024. 
• It has not been reinspected, according to county documents, as of publication.

Baba Ghannouj at 5400 S Miami Blvd Unit 138 in Durham

• The restaurant received a score of 86% on Thursday, Sept. 25 and was in violation of 22 standards.
• Violations included multiple dishes stored as clean with visible debris, multiple items observed uncovered during storage and wet cloths observed on the counter tops.
• The restaurant previously scored 93.5% in June 2025 and 91.5% in November 2024. 
• The restaurant was reinspected again on Oct. 1 and received a 91%.

Bullock’s Bar-B-Cue at 3330 Quebec Dr. in Durham

• The restaurant received a score of 82.5% on Wednesday, Sept. 24 and was in violation of 22 standards.
• Violations included a food employee observed washing hands without soap, a lot of cockroaches observed throughout and cups found stored on the floor in the back BBQ room.
• The restaurant previously scored 91.5% in April 2025 and 90% in December 2024. 
• It has not been reinspected, according to county documents, as of publication.

The Durham at 315 E Chapel Hill St. in Durham

• The restaurant received a score of 85.5% on Thursday, Sept. 18 and was in violation of 23 standards.
• Violations included linens being used to put on top of food and raw chicken above ready-to-eat foods in the reach-in cooler. There was also oatmeal made on Sept. 11, kimchi made July 31 and sauerkraut made Aug. 27 still present in the walk-in cooler.
• The restaurant previously scored 95.5% in May 2025 and 98% in March 2025. 
• It has not been reinspected, according to county documents, as of publication.

Jamaica Jamaica at 4853 NC-55 in Durham

• The restaurant received a score of 87.5% on Monday, Sept. 15 and was in violation of 13 standards.
• Violations included raw shelled eggs stored directly next to cut cabbage and carrots in the reach-in cooler, one dead water bug in front of the grill station and a grocery bag being used to line the rice in the rice cooker.
• The restaurant previously scored 90% in May 2025 and 96.5% in February 2025. 
• It has not been reinspected, according to county documents, as of publication.

China Wok at 3825 S Roxboro St UNIT 124 in Durham

• The restaurant received a score of 82.5% on Tuesday, Sept. 9 and was in violation of 16 standards.
• Violations included employee beverages stored on prep surfaces, an employee operating the register then proceeded to food handling without washing her hands, and the person in charge was not wearing hair restraint while working with food upon arrival of inspection.
• The restaurant previously scored 92% in January 2025 and 90.5% in July 2024.
• It has not been reinspected, according to county documents, as of publication.

Top’s China Restaurant at 1205 University Dr. in Durham

• The restaurant received a score of 87.5% on Tuesday, Sept. 9 and was in violation of 12 standards.
• Violations included multiple roaches and other insects crawling on surfaces in the facility, raw chicken stored above unwashed vegetables in the walk-in cooler and all employees observed turning off the sink handles with hands after washing and wiping hands on their aprons.
• The restaurant previously scored 93.5% and 82% in August 2025.
• It has not been reinspected, according to county documents, as of publication.

Tacos Number Juan at 910 Martin Luther King Jr Pkwy in Durham

• The restaurant received a score of 86.5% on Wednesday, Sept. 3 and was in violation of 14 standards.
• Violations included very few employees washing their hands at the appropriate time, multiped gnats observed throughout the facility, and several knives stored as clean on a dirty knife rack.
• The restaurant previously scored 86.5% in August and 90.5% in May 2025. 
• It has not been reinspected, according to county documents, as of publication.

Worst Johnston County sanitation scores

Pine Level Food Mart at 1880 US 70 A Hwy in Pine Level

• The restaurant received a score of 88% on Tuesday, Sept. 2 and was in violation of 10 standards.
• Violations included raw shell eggs stored above cooked and cooled sausage from breakfast and condiments, and raw chicken and raw pork thawing by sitting on the drainboard of the prep sink. There was also cooked and cooled meats, opened bags of cooked vegetables, open egg rolls, chili and hot dogs without a date label on them.
• The restaurant previously scored 92.5% in April 2025 and 93.5% in January 2025.
• The restaurant was reinspected again on Sept. 12 and received 93.5%.

Worst Chatham County sanitation scores

Ni Armor Hawaiian BBQ at 517 West St. in Pittsboro

• The restaurant received a score of 78% on Wednesday, Sept. 3 and was in violation of 19 standards.
• Violations included multiple dirty food pans, utensils, utensil bins and fly strips touching clean food pans, mouse droppings observed inside of clean food bins and numerous flies observed near a three-comp sink.
• The restaurant previously scored 93% in April and January 2025.

All restaurants in Orange County inspected during the month of September received A grades.

This story was originally published October 3, 2025 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Mouse poop, roaches & dirty pans: Worst Triangle restaurant scores in September."