Washoe County restaurant health inspectors find mildew in soda guns, meat thawed outside

Raw meat being thawed outdoors. Mildew in soda guns. An employee not washing their hands after returning from the restroom.

These were some of the violations spotted by health inspectors at Washoe County restaurants in late July.

In all, 18 restaurants and food service facilities were written up during routine inspections by Northern Nevada Public Health from July 16-31, with four shut down altogether and the remaining 14 receiving conditional passes.

85-day-old sausages, warm cheese: What Washoe health inspectors found in early July

Northern Nevada Public Health, formerly known as the Washoe County Health Department, issues four types of inspection ratings:

• Pass: Fewer than three critical violations during inspection.
• Conditional pass: Three to five critical violations that can be corrected immediately. The facility may remain open and a reinspection will occur to "verify that all violations have stayed corrected," according to NNPH'S explanation of the process.
• Fail: A restaurant has more than six critical violations that are able to be corrected during the inspection. The facility may remain open before a reinspection to ensure all violations have stayed corrected.
• Close: Restaurant has critical violations that can't be remedied during the inspection.

Below is a sampling of critical and non-critical violations found in the second half of July 2024.

Reno-Sparks restaurants closed due to critical health violations

Carniceria Samber

2360 Oddie Blvd., Sparks

Separating raw animal foods: Container of raw chicken stored above a container of raw ground beef, and a container of raw ground meat stored above a container of whole raw fish in the walk-in; it was the third consecutive inspection with similar violations.

Date-marking and disposition: Pan of bagged meat dated 10 days earlier; container of beans in the walk-in without date marks; it was the third consecutive inspection with similar violations.

Coach's Grill & Sports Bar

1573 S. Virginia St., Reno

Date-marking and disposition: Multiple time/temperature-control-for-safety food items in reach-in coolers on cookline with a date mark beyond the seven-day expiration: corned beef, marinara, alfredo, hot dogs, ribs, etc.; it was the third consecutive inspection with similar violations.

Food and non-food contact surfaces cleanable, properly designed, constructed and used: Cooler observed not maintaining 41F and below.

Genghis Grill

191 Damonte Ranch Parkway C, Reno

Managerial control: Manager not on-site during inspection, and no clear person in charge that could make effective changes in the facility; it was the second consecutive inspection with this violation.

Date-marking and disposition: Carton of milk with an open date 11 days prior to the inspection.

Little Caesars Pizza

10555 Stead Blvd., Reno

Equipment for temperature control: Facility walk-in refrigerator and make-up unit were non-operational.

Little Caesars Pizza passed a follow-up inspection on July 25.

Reno-Sparks restaurants with conditional passes on health inspections

BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse

425 Sparks Blvd., Sparks

Sewage and wastewater: Mechanical dishwasher floor sink heavily overflowing with wastewater onto floor in dishwashing area; one drainpipe was pushed away from floor sink and draining directly onto floor.

Handwashing: Employee handled raw chicken, changed gloves without a hand wash, then handled basil to be topped onto pasta.

Carniceria Los Compadres #2

10555 Stead Blvd., Reno

Potential environmental contamination, cold-holding temperatures: Speed rack with pork skin and sausage stored outside of the back door of the facility without any covering or protection. According to the operator, food had been placed outside to thaw two hours prior. Food was measured between 60F and 70F and was kept outside for at least two hours.

Toilet facilities: Facility did not have soap stocked in the employee restroom.

China Lee

2838 Vista Blvd. 106, Sparks

Separating raw animal foods from ready-to-eat foods: Raw pooled eggs stored over cooked chicken and raw beef stored over heads of lettuce.

Thawing methods: Facility thawing cooked chicken at room temperature overnight.

Dopo Pizza & Pasta

299 E. Plumb Lane, Reno

Bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods: Employee grabbed basil with bare hands to top pizza.

Potential contamination during food storage: Personal food co-mingled with service food in reach-in.

Edelweiss

13979 S. Virginia St. 505, Reno

Food contact surfaces: Ice machine with buildup of grime along the top ridge.

Time as a public health control: Pickled cabbage in the kitchen as well as items in the walk-in (apricot jam, prepped dessert ingredients) with prep date marks ranging from May 20 to July 23.

La Estacion

1185 California Ave. H, Reno

Date-marking and disposition: Temperature-controlled-for-safety food items without a date mark throughout facility: cut watermelon, opened bag of lettuce, cut cabbage, clamato juice, milk and cooked corn.

Single-service/single-use article storage: Single-service items such as cups being stored on ground in corner of front service area.

Fantasy Girls

1095 E. Fourth St., Reno

Potential environmental contamination: Buildup of mildew in the soda guns and the holders.

Food-contact surfaces: Buildup of black and pink mildew in the ice machine.

Non-food-contact surfaces: Buildup of trash, liquid and debris under the equipment in the bar and under the icemachine. Floor sinks with a buildup of miscellaneous objects, slime growth and flies.

Loco Ono

1585 S. Virginia St., Reno

Potential contamination during food storage: Employee food stored next to and above service food and equipment.

Handwashing: Employee preparing raw chicken went outside, came back in and returned to chicken prep station without removing gloves and washing hands before returning.

McDonald's

2095 Brierly Way, Sparks

Separating raw animal foods from ready-to-eat foods: Raw bacon stored over ready-to-eat pancakes and ham.

Handwashing sink: Back of kitchen hand sink without paper towels.

Mountain Mike's Pizza

3340 S. McCarran Blvd., Reno

Handwashing: Employee returned from restroom and entered the back of the house where food is handled without washing hands in kitchen.

Time as a public health control: Observed multiple pizzas hot held above 135F on buffet line and one pizza between 113-115F. Operator stated that pizza is kept at buffet line only between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and never stays longer than four hours. Writing is stated on top of buffet line that pizza must never stay longer than four hours but exact times are not tracked.

Simply Thai

15 Eagle Canyon Drive 101, Washoe County

Separating raw animal foods from ready-to-eat foods: Several bags of raw frozen chicken not in hermetically sealed commercial package stored over eggrolls in reach-in freezer.

Handwashing: Employee used gloved hands to hold cellphone during a phone call and proceed to handle food without removing gloves and washing hands after phone call.

Sprouts Farmers Market Bakery

299 E. Plumb Lane, Reno

Chemical storage: Sanitizer bottle stored on paper towel dispenser above shredded cheese on the food preparation table.

Plumbing: Water on the floor near the three-compartment sink. Employee stated that there was a lot of water onthe floor when starting work that day and did not know where the leak is coming from.

Sprouts Farmers Market Deli

299 E. Plumb Lane, Reno

Separating raw animal foods from ready-to-eat foods: Raw shrimp stored over cooked chicken in walk-in

Date-marking and disposition: Cut tomatoes dated to be used by four days prior in the sandwich unit, and tomato pesto with no date mark in the walk-in.

Wendy's

130 Salmon Court, Sparks

Physical facilities: Facility using cardboard to prevent grease from reaching food contact surfaces.

Handwashing sinks: Water pitcher stored in back of kitchen hand sink.

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Washoe County restaurant health inspectors find mildew in soda guns, meat thawed outside