Check out this week’s Triangle restaurant sanitation scores (Feb. 2)
The News & Observer is publishing 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 Jan. 26 to Feb. 2.
Wake County sanitation scores
The Wake County sanitation grades database shows 100 restaurants were inspected between Jan. 26-Feb. 2.
▪ Most restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
▪ Two restaurants received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.
La Mexicanita #2 (225 N. Arendell Ave. in Zebulon) received a score of 89% during an inspection on Jan. 31.
- The restaurant was in violation of 19 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to 1.5 points.
- Violations included raw meat, chicken and egg shells being stored on top of cooked food; several foods being stored at an improper temperature due to a refrigerator being unplugged; and having no customer advisory about possible raw or undercooked foods, such as eggs, on the menu.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection, the inspection report shows.
- The restaurant previously scored a 90% in September 2021 and a 93.5% in February 2021.
Waltonwood Lake Boone (3550 Horton St. in Raleigh), located in a “premier” senior living community, received a score of 85% during an inspection on Jan. 28.
- The restaurant was in violation of 25 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to 1.5 points.
- Violations included molded bread being present in the cafe area; containers being used to store utensils having food in the bottom of them; black residue being present in the nozzles of tea pitchers; and potato salad, chicken salad and egg salad being stored past their appropriate dates.
Some violations were corrected during the inspection, the inspection report shows. The report notes that the facility was eligible for a reinspection, but a new inspection has not been recorded in the Wake County database as of Feb. 2.
The restaurant previously scored a 96.5% in October 2021 and a 97% 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 50 restaurant inspections were completed between Jan. 26-Feb. 2.
▪ Most restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
▪ One restaurant, Ole NC BBQ (3600 N. Duke St. in Durham), received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but less than 90%.
The restaurant received a score of 86% during an inspection on Jan. 27.
- The restaurant was in violation of 20 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to three points.
- Violations included the facility having “no active managerial control” to correct improper cooling and holding temperatures of food; raw eggs being stored over cooked pork; and containers that were being stored as clean were soiled and greasy.
- Some violations were corrected during the inspection, the report shows.
- The restaurant previously scored a 92.5% in November 2021, a 94.5% in June 2021 and a 95% in March 2021.
▪ 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 have been inspected between Jan. 26-Feb. 2.
▪ 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 27 restaurants were inspected between Jan. 26-Feb. 2.
▪ All 27 restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Johnston County using the county’s inspections database at johnston-nc.healthinspections.us.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Check out this week’s Triangle restaurant sanitation scores (Feb. 2)."
