Local Mesa Restaurant Hit With 5 Priority Violations During Inspection

Take gloves off when washing hands.Photo byMélissa JeantyonUnsplash

Every week, somewhere around 1,400 restaurants are visited by the health department around greater Phoenix. Of that lot, all but 40 receive an A or B grade. So, the vast majority of restaurants perform well and you can feel safe with eating out. Of the remaining restaurants, 30 of them receive a C grade, which isn’t great, but is serviceable and is one or two corrections away from receiving an A. It is the final 10 restaurants every week to look deeper into. And for this last week, the worst performing restaurant of the entire Valley is located in Mesa. 

On August 22, a health department official visited Saigon Jade Restaurant. Located at 1948 West Broadway Road, the restaurant has generally performed well during its inspections. Of its past ten visits, only two resulted in two Priority Violations. However, its most recent, eleventh visit, resulted in five Priority Violations (it has previously only received six total). 

A Priority Violation is one that directly increases the chance of foodborne illness or injury. In total, the restaurant had seven violations, two of which are considered of the Priority Foundation variety. This means the issues do not have any impact on the safety of the food, but still need to be addressed (such as cracked tiles or light bulb problems in the dining room area). 

The Priority Violation came when the inspector watched a staff member wash their hands while wearing gloves. The instructor pointed out the gloves needed to be removed prior to washing their hands (and then a new pair of gloves were to be worn).

The next issue came when four large metal pots of beef soup were tested and had a temperature of 46 to 48 degrees. Anothing above 41 degrees and below 135 degrees is considered to be in the “danger zone,” as bacteria will grow in this temperature. The staff said the soup had been left out from the night before. All of the soup in question was discarded. 

On the flip side of the temperature spectrum, all hot-holding food must have a temperature above 135 degrees, yet the inspector tested rice at only 88 degrees. The rice was also discarded at the time of the inspection. This temperature problem occurred again with cooked egg rolls, which were found in a different area of the restaurant, yet had a temperature of 71 degrees.

Lastly, a staff member was storing a personal water bottle inside of the ice machine used for customer drinks (which is akin to scooping ice out with hands). The issue was corrected.