One restaurant was drying meat on a mop handle, another had rodent droppings in a storage room and several had no hot water.
Those were some of the notable conditions San Luis Obispo County health inspectors found in July during dozens of surprise visits to eating and drinking establishments.
Many food and beverage sellers passed with flying colors, while others needed to make serious improvements.
Every month, The Tribune prints the lowest- and highest-ranked eateries to give diners more information about the places where they buy food and drinks.
Inspectors visit restaurants, bars, coffee shops, grocery stores, mini-marts and more on a monthly basis. They score eateries on a 100-point scale and make deductions based on the severity of the violations they find.
Though they were not among the lowest-rated, there were several restaurants and food establishments with notable health code violations last month.
The Apple Farm at 2015 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo received a respectable score of 92 during its recent inspection — in spite of having rodent droppings in its storage room.
According to the inspection notes, rodent droppings were observed “throughout the entire storage room” during the July inspection. The business was ordered to be re-inspected in August to give time for it to contact pest control and combat the rodent activity.
The Subway at 3240 Broad St. in San Luis Obispo meanwhile was briefly shut down after an inspector observed there was no hot water anywhere in the entire facility. The spot was reinspected the following day and allowed to reopen once hot water had been restored.
To check out the safety and cleanliness of your favorite restaurants around the county, visit www.EatSafeSLO.org and use the interactive map to view full inspection reports.
Here are the highs and lows of the 140 inspections Environmental Health employees conducted in July.
Lowest-rated restaurants
Las Kalaveras, 1218 Pine St., Paso Robles
Points lost: 25
Notes: Las Kalaveras in Paso Robles lost a significant number of points during its routine inspection last month after an inspector observed “numerous violations that could potentially cause food borne illness diseases.” Overall, the inspector noted, the staff lacked understanding of food safety principles, including proper cooling techniques and sanitation practices. Among those violations was two large pots of refried beans and a pan of rice made the day before that were being kept in a walk-in refrigerator. According to the inspection notes, those had been improperly cooled and were measuring at too-warm a temperature. The restaurant also had no sanitizer solution set up during active food preparation, a bag of flour being kept on the floor, a build-up of grime and food debris on the refrigeration handles and gaskets and no soap or paper towels at hand-wash stations. Because of the violations found, the facility was ordered to be reinspected. If the violations persisted, the restaurant would be billed at an hourly rate for future inspections.
Cape Cod Eatery and Taphouse, 1127 Shell Beach Road, Pismo Beach
Points lost: 24.5
Notes: Cape Cod Eatery and Taphouse was one of several restaurants that were required to be reinspected following their initial surprise inspections in July. The Shell Beach restaurant lost points after employees were seen “not properly washing hands between changing tasks and using rags to wipe hands between making orders.” Meanwhile, the handwashing sink in the preparation area was out of commission, the dishwasher wasn’t dispensing any sanitizer, there was an accumulation of food debris on the table-mounted can opener and old fish tanks being kept in the back of the facility, according to inspection notes. Several flies were also seen inside the kitchen and throughout the facility, and the restaurant was ordered to stop propping open its front doors without screens to protect from vermin.
Old Village Grill, 101 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande
Points lost: 22
Notes: During its routine inspection in July, Old Village Grill in Arroyo Grande lost a number of points for observed health code violations — to the point it was ordered to be reinspected. According to inspection notes, the restaurant’s manager couldn’t demonstrate knowledge of proper food safety. Employees were also not using gloves correctly and were told to ensure gloves were being changed between uses and hands washed. The inspector additionally observed two refrigeration units in the restaurant were too warm and ordered workers to discard potentially hazardous food items. Several smaller violations also included issues with mops being kept on a fence line outside and a strainer being stored with a mop sign.
Outlaw’s, 9850 E. Front Road, Atascadero
Points lost: 16.5
Notes: The chief violation found during Outlaw’s inspection in July was that workers were using latex gloves during food preparation, resulting in a five-point deduction from the restaurant’s total score. Other violations found during the inspection included no paper towels at a hand-wash sink near the bar, employees preparing foods without chlorine sanitizer on hand and mop water being discarded in the parking lot. The restaurant was also told to repair its torn linoleum flooring in the kitchen.
Los Osos Mexican Market, 2169 10th St., Los Osos
Points lost: 16
Notes: Los Osos Mexican Market was another of a handful of food establishments ordered to be reinspected after violations were found in July. Those included “meat drying on (a) wooden mop handle” which the business was ordered to “discontinue immediately.” It was told to ensure a state-approved plan was in place before curing or drying any meat products in the future. The inspector also observed the hot water was turned off at the business’ hand-wash sink, no sanitizer solution was set up for use during active food preparation and a prep top unit was not cooling properly. The business also had “many pieces of broken equipment” and a mop sink full of utensils and pots, according to inspection notes.
These businesses also lost 10 or more points due to violations.
-
Etto Pasta Bar, 3070 Limestone Way, Paso Robles
-
Ascendo Coffee, 1230 Los Osos Valley Road, Los Osos
-
DK’s Donuts, 802 Grand Ave., Arroyo Grande
-
Susy Kitchen, 6165 San Anselmo Road, Atascadero
-
Golden Gong Chinese Restaurant, 290 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo
Highest-rated restaurants
These stores and restaurants received scores of 99 to 100, with few to no violations.
San Luis Obispo
-
Baileyana Winery, 5828 Orcutt Road
-
Blaze Pizza, 892 Foothill Blvd.
-
BNB Chevron, 12424 Los Osos Valley Road
-
Buffalo Wild Wings, 309 Madonna Road
-
Burger King #9678, 1358 Madonna Road
-
Crossroads Liquor & Deli, 3211 Broad S., Suite 101
-
CVS Pharmacy #9873, 1300 Madonna Road
-
Dollar Tree Stores, Inc #10399, 1308 Madonna Road
-
Five Guys Burgers and Fries, 763 . Foothill Blvd.
-
Grocery Outlet San Luis Obispo, 1314 Madonna Road
-
Jamba Juice #1, 17 Chorro St., Suite C
-
La Quinta Inn & Suites, 1845 Monterey St.
-
Laurel Lane Market and Liquor, 1291 Laurel Lane
-
Madonna Shell, 204 Madonna Road
-
Mission View Health Center, 1425 Woodside Drive
-
Olive Garden Italian Restaurant #1888, 11966 Los Osos Valley Road
-
Palm Theatre, SLO Film Center, 817 Palm St.
-
Royal Oak Motor Hotel, 214 Madonna Road
-
Seabreeze Cupcakes & Sweet Treats, 3001 Broad St.
-
Senior Nutrition Program of SLO, 2180 Johnson Ave.
-
Starbucks Coffee #6731, 3970 Broad St., Suite #1
-
Star MSO Inc. 68613, 296 Santa Rosa St.
-
TownePlace Suites Hotel, 1301 Calle Joaquin
-
Ocean Canyon General Store, 7075 Ontario Road
North Coast
-
Cass House Cayucos Exchange Inc., 222 N. Ocean Ave., Cayucos
-
Dragon Spring Farm, 6115 Santa Rosa Creek Road, Cambria
-
Hampton Inn by Hilton Morro Bay, 295 Atascadero Road, Morro Bay
-
The Pacific Motel, 399 S Ocean Ave., Cayucos
-
Shine Cafe, 427 Morro Bay Blvd., Morro Bay
-
Yogurt Paradise, 1240-3 Los Osos Valley Road, Los Osos
South County
-
7-Eleven Inc. #17658, 99 S Dolliver St., Pismo Beach
-
Dune Side Deli, 1981 Cienaga St., Oceano
-
Five Foleys, Inc., 921 Griffin St., Unit R, Grover Beach
-
Lopez Cyn Conference Grounds, 3067 Upper Lopez Canyon Road, Arroyo Grande
-
Lido Restaurant, 2731 Shell Beach Road, Pismo Beach
-
Manrock Brewing Company, 1750 El Camino Real, Suite 3, Grover Beach
-
McDonald’s #13047, 460 W. Tefft St., Nipomo
-
SLO Creek Farms/Greenlove, 491 1st St., Avila Beach
-
Wendy’s #13332, 161 S Frontage Road, Nipomo
North County
-
Aronhill Vineyard, 2500 Vineyard Drive, Templeton
-
Atascadero Elks BPOE #2733, 1516 El Camino Real, Atascadero
-
Central Coast Creamery, 3075 Limestone Way, Paso Robles
-
City of Atascadero/Colony Park, 5599 Traffic Way, Atascadero
-
Club House at Chalk Mountain, 10000 El Bordo Ave., Atascadero
-
Della’s, 831 13th St., Paso Robles
-
Dollar Tree #07073, 1131 Creston Road, Paso Robles
-
Donati Family Vineyard, 2720 Oakview Road, Templeton
-
El Pollito Cowboy, 6165 San Anselmo Road, Atascadero
-
GNC Live Well #8657, 161 Niblick Road, Paso Robles
-
Guest House Grill, 8783 El Camino Real, Atascadero
-
Jack in the Box #4356, 1499 Creston Road, Paso Robles
-
Jimmy’s Watering Hole / Bonnie’s Kitchen, 2198 Riverside Ave., Paso Robles
-
La Dolce Vita, 98 S Main St., Suite #A, Templeton
-
Merry Hill Coffee & Teas, 1121 Rossi Road, Unit C, Templeton
-
Proof & Gather Baking Company, 3075 Limestone Way, Paso Robles
-
Ross Dress for Less #0436, 2205 Theatre Drive, Paso Robles
Source Agencies
