Popular Chain Restaurant Hit With "D" Health Inspection Grade

A local restaurant has a very checkered inspection background.Photo byPhil HearingonUnsplash

Almost without fail, chain restaurants perform exceptionally well during health inspections. Almost. There will always be the random bad apple. The one restaurant that underwhelms with a series of violations. Big brand fast food chains typically are the best, as cleaning is down to an analytical science (say what you will about McDonald’s, but the back kitchen area is almost always spotless). Other brands though struggle with staying on top of everything required for an acceptable performance grade, which is exactly what happened for one popular spot in Tempe. 

The IHOP located at 705 South Rural Road has about as up and down of a health reportcard record as any restaurant can have. It has received two D inspection grades since July of 2022, but it also has an A grade slipped in there. Due to the constant fluctuation of the restaurant, it is visited on a more regular basis than other Valley-area restaurants. In fact, it’s been inspected 10 times since October of 2021. Unfortunately, its most recent inspection is also one of its worst, as it received another D grade, resulting in a scheduled re-inspection. 

On September 20, a county health inspector stopped by the IHOP at 705 South Rural Road in Tempe. During the inspection, the restaurant received 5 violations, 3 of which were Priority Violations. A Priority Violation is one that directly contributes to the increased threat of foodborne illness and injury. 

The first major violation came with the lack of handwashing. One employee was seen cracking an egg with gloved hands before immediately touching hamburger buns. Eggs are one kind of food that handlers must wash their hands after working with. Uncooked yolk and eggshell chips that might stick to the buns could lead to serious cross-contamination. At other times, employees would work with food, touched their faces, then return to handling food without changing gloves and washing hands. The inspector informed both employees of the issue and when to wash their hands. 

Following the same lines of washing, the dish machine was found to have a 0 PPM (parts per million) of chlorine sanitizer. This is mandatory for properly disinfecting dishes. A dish machine must have levels between 50 and 200 PPM to properly disinfect. The Person In Charge (PIC) said the restaurant was out of the chlorine solution, so the inspector informed the staff to handwash all dishes in the three-compartment sink until more solution arrived. 

The final Priority Violation came with cold-holding temperatures. Foods stored within a walk-in cooler and other cold-holding areas must not exceed 41 degrees. Bacteria will grow in higher temperatures. Despite this, food tested upward of 49 degrees. All food inside of the walk-in unit were discarded and equipment repair for the faulty walk-in was scheduled.