Triangle restaurant marked for moldy food & dirty utensils. Scores: (May 27)
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- Three restaurants in Wake and Durham counties received B grades for violations.
- Inspectors cited issues like moldy produce, dirty utensils and poor food storage.
- Three Triangle-area restaurants received B grades for multiple safety violations.
The News & Observer publishes a weekly roundup of restaurant sanitation scores to keep you up-to-date on the health grades at Triangle dining 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 food-borne 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 Triangle counties for the week of May 20-26.
Wake County sanitation scores
The Wake County inspection management system shows that 74 restaurant inspections were completed May 20-26.
Most restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
One restaurant received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.
Mamacita Apex (2045 Creekside Landing Dr. in Apex) received a score of 87.5% during an inspection on Wednesday, May 21.
The restaurant was in violation of 16 standards.
Violations included raw eggs stored above produce in the walk-in cooler, raw fish, shrimp and chicken stored above ready-to-eat foods in the walk-in cooler and multiple wiping cloths were stored on counter surfaces and cutting boards.
The restaurant previously scored 92% in November 2024 and 96% in August 2024.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Wake County at bit.ly/4dGbJN3.
Durham County sanitation scores
The Durham County inspection management system shows 27 restaurant inspections were completed May 20-26.
Two restaurants received a B grade.
The Goat (5600 Primary Dr. in Durham) received a score of 87.5% during an inspection on Thursday, May 22.
The restaurant was in violation of 18 standards.
Violations included heavily molded strawberries in the walk-in cooler, knives, numerous containers, sauce bottles and baking sheets stored as clean with visible debris and dusty build-up seen on ceiling vent and nearby tiles above the food prep area.
The restaurant previously scored 92% in December 2024 and 95.5% in September 2024.
Tacos Number Juan (910 Martin Luther King Jr Pkwy in Durham) received a score of 88% during an inspection on Wednesday, May 21.
The restaurant was in violation of 18 standards.
Violations included homemade salsas in the salsa cooler in the dining area warmer than necessary temperature, multiple flies throughout the facility and several food handling employees observed not wearing hair restraints.
The restaurant previously scored 96% in February 2025 and 96.5% in October 2024.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Durham County at bit.ly/3pVQfpG.
Orange County sanitation scores
The Orange County inspection management system shows that eight restaurant inspections were completed May 20-26.
All restaurants received an A grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Orange County at bit.ly/3eQqpxc.
Johnston County sanitation scores
The Johnston County inspection management system shows that 16 restaurant inspections were completed May 20-26.
All restaurants received an A grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Johnston County at bit.ly/4eEDuGr.
Chatham County sanitation scores
The Chatham County inspections management system shows that three restaurant inspections were completed May 20-26.
All restaurants received an A grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Chatham County at bit.ly/3JfiHwq.
This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 10:25 AM with the headline "Triangle restaurant marked for moldy food & dirty utensils. Scores: (May 27)."
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