‘Live and dead cockroaches’ throughout Triangle restaurant kitchens: Scores (June 11)

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 June 5-11.

Wake County sanitation scores

The Wake County sanitation grades database shows that 78 restaurant inspections were completed June 5-11.

▪ 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%.

Back Then Bar and Grill (107 Edinburgh South Dr. #129 in Cary) received a score of 85.5% during an inspection on June 7.

• The restaurant was in violation of 14 standards. Of these, nine were considered critical violations.

• Serious violations included finding numerous ready-to-eat foods past their expiration date, including boiled eggs dated May 24, yams dated May 15 and diced ham and turkey dated May 15. Multiple roaches were observed in the facility, including a dead roach on the rim of the ice machine and “a few flies flying around.” The walk-in cooler was dripping water from the ceiling.

• Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

• The restaurant previously scored 95.5% in February 2024 and 96.5% in October 2023.

▪ No restaurants 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 at wake-nc.healthinspections.us .

Durham County sanitation scores

The Durham County inspection management system shows 16 restaurant inspections were completed June 5-11.

▪ Most restaurants received an A grade.

▪ One restaurant received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.

COPA (107 W Main St. in Durham) received a score of 88% during an inspection on June 6.

• The restaurant was in violation of 15 standards. Of these, nine were considered critical violations.

• Serious violations included finding “multiple live and dead cockroaches throughout the kitchen,” and the majority of food items (many from the previous days) in multiple cold holding units weren’t covered. The hot water was shut off at a hand-washing sink, and water temperature needs to be at least 100 deg F.

• Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

• The restaurant previously scored 96.5% in July 2023 (a re-inspection from scoring 89% in June 2023) and 93% in November 2022.

▪ No restaurants received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but lower than 80%.

▪ No restaurants received a failing grade.

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 30 restaurant inspections were completed June 5-11.

▪ 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 sanitation inspections database shows that 21 restaurant inspections were completed June 5-11.

▪ All restaurants received an A grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Johnston County at johnston-nc.healthinspections.us .

Chatham County sanitation scores

The Chatham County inspections management system shows that that two restaurant inspections were completed June 5-11.

▪ Both restaurants received an A grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Chatham County at bit.ly/3JfiHwq .

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