Restaurant inspections: 2 Coachella spots reopen after earlier failures

No Coachella Valley restaurants were given failing grades this week by Riverside County health inspectors, but two that were shut down last week received the green light to reopen.

Eastern Buffet and the meat counter portion of Chihuahua Market in Coachella failed their most recent inspections and had to close due to a number of major violations, including lack of hot water and several observed flies and cockroaches. Both were able to reopen following reinspection.

This article does not include the usual roundup of all restaurants that received "A" grades when they were visited by inspectors on June 28 to July 3. The Riverside County Department of Environmental Health is in the process of transferring previous restaurant inspection reports from its old database to a new one . As a result, new reports have not been uploaded to the website since June 11.

Instead, the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health will be sending weekly inspection reports to The Desert Sun until the restaurant grading site is working properly. These reports will pertain only to restaurants that were downgraded or closed by health inspectors.

Residents can still look up past restaurant grading reports at restaurantgrading.rivcoeh.org/Default.aspx by searching for specific facilities or cities.

Major violations pose an imminent risk to public health and warrant the immediate closure of a food facility or immediate correction, while minor violations do not pose an imminent public health risk, but do warrant correction.

Reopenings

Eastern Buffet, 49-211 Grapefruit Blvd., Suite 7, Coachella

• Minor violations: Improper chlorine concentration in dishwasher; several flies at the front self-service food area and around the back door area and two live and several dead cockroaches around the kitchen area; utensils and equipment in need of cleaning; floors, walls and ceiling in need of repairs and cleaning; and others
• "A" card posted and facility was approved to reopen and operate

Chihuahua Market, 52-279 Cesar Chavez St., Coachella

• A follow-up inspection was conducted to verify the handwashing sink has hot water that measures at least 100 degrees. Observed the handwashing sink hot water measure 102 degrees. The three-compartment sink hot water also measured 120 degrees
• The meat department is reopened for use, but the score remains unchanged until all violations are corrected. The rest of the store was unaffected by the inspection and has stayed open all along.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Restaurant inspections: 2 Coachella spots reopen after earlier failures