News of public record: Guernsey County restaurant inspections

The following are restaurant inspections with critical violations, as conducted by the Guernsey County Health Department from Feb. 19 to 23.

Feb. 16

Bob Evans Restaurants LLC #217, 2358 Southgate Parkway, Cambridge. The employees are not informed in a verifiable manner of their responsibility to report information about their health. Food not protected from contamination. Lettuce, tomatoes and spinach were discarded, and uncovered food was covered. The sanitizing bucket initially registered 100 parts per million (ppm). The quat concentration must be at least 200 ppm to effectively sanitize food contact surfaces. Grease from the grill was dripping onto plates stored under the grill and the food contact surface was contaminated. Pancake batter sitting out at room temperature registered 58 F. Time/temperature controlled for safety (TCS) food must be held at 41 F or below to prevent the growth of harmful organisms.

Denny's Restaurant, 2031 Southgate Parkway, Cambridge. The quat concentration in sanitizing buckets registered 100 ppm. Quat concentrations must be at least 200 ppm to ensure food contact surfaces are effectively sanitized.

Ruby Tuesday #4358, 2250 Southgate Parkway, Cambridge. An employee was touching their face, mouth, and dirty dishes before handling clean dishes. Water from the ceiling was leaking onto the ice machine and contaminated water was getting into the machine. Food in freezers was uncovered. The facility was using ice that was being contaminated by non-potable water. Water was contaminating the ice and should have been discarded. The machine was put out of service and is to be cleaned and sanitized. Eggs registered 46 F and ham registered 50 F on the salad bar. TCS food must be held at 41 F or below to prevent the growth of harmful organisms.

Feb. 20

Meadowbrook High School, Marietta Road, Byesville. A Sanitizer bucket was stored in the handwashing sink.

Mid-East Career and Tech Center - Buffalo, 57090 Vocational Road, Senecaville. Food employees were observed switching tasks, donning clean gloves, and initiating food preparation activities without washing hands. Pizza burgers and cheeseburgers were in a hot holding unit with internal temperatures of 110 F and 106 F respectively. TCS foods must be hot held at 135 F or above to prevent pathogen growth. String cheese and salad dressing containers had internal temperatures of 59 F and 54 F respectively. TCS foods must be cold-held at 41 F or below to prevent pathogen growth. Cheese sauce had a date mark of Feb. 13.

Feb. 21

Cambridge Country Club, 60755 Southgate Road, Byesville. PIC not ensuring employees are properly sanitizing equipment and utensils and monitoring of sanitizer parameters. Breads, rolls, and buns in the cooler did not have ingredients. Hash browns were stored below raw meat. Potatoes in cooler were not covered. Chlorine concentration registered 0 ppm. The chlorine level must be at least 50 ppm to ensure dishes are being effectively sanitized. Biscuits from busted containers sitting directly on a dirty tray in the cooler. Several TCS foods in the facility exceeded the seven day use-by date and were not discarded, including slaw dressing (Jan. 19), turkey gravy (Feb. 14)), dressing (Jan. 24), taco meat (Feb. 9), chicken base (Nov. 20, 2023), honey mustard dressing (Feb. 8), chicken under the grill (Feb. 7), bacon (Feb. 4), hot dogs (Feb. 3), potatoes (Feb. 2), crab stuffing (Aug. 23, 2023), corn salsa (Feb. 9), pizza sauce (Feb. 14), spinach dip (Feb. 9), hard-boiled eggs (Feb. 7), hot dogs downstairs (Feb. 5). TCS food throughout the facility was not date marked including baked potatoes, bacon, bowl of crab stuffing, ham, gravy, pizza sauce, prime rib, hot dogs downstairs. Several cracked lids on containers in cooler.

Riesbeck's #6 Store, 55 S. 23rd St., Cambridge. HACCP plans in the sushi area were not being followed. Temperature logs were repetitive and appeared to be the same in the same order for several days. The handwashing sink in the bakery area was obstructed by racks. An icing bag was sitting on the faucet of the handwashing sink. Raw chorizo was stored above cheese in the meat department and raw eggs were above Sunny D and cottage cheese. The temperature plate on dishwashing machine only reached 135 F, 141 F and 152 F. Cole slaw and broccoli salad were not date marked. Some date-marking labels in the deli were incorrectly date marked for eight days instead of seven days. The meter for monitoring the pH of the acidified rice was not working. A meter shall be made available and acidified rice must be tested within 30 minutes of being prepared to ensure pH registers 4.1 to prevent the growth of harmful organisms.

Tlaquepaque Mexican Restaurant, 61275 Southgate Parkway, Cambridge. PIC is unable to demonstrate knowledge by having no critical violations. Multiple critical violations were observed. Food is stored throughout in containers without lids. Raw chicken stored above ready-to-eat carne products in cooler. Raw bacon stored on top of a pineapple. Cooler drawers under the grill line where raw meats and fish are stored are unclean with dried, spoiled, and discolored meat and fish accumulations on contact surfaces. The concentration of chlorine sanitizing solution in the mechanical ware washing machine registered 0 ppm. The chlorine sanitizing solution container feeding unit is empty. Employees are not monitoring food temperatures or the length of the cooling process. Queso dip, cooked ground beef, and cooked French fries had internal temperatures of 72 F, 82 F, and 60 F respectively. TCS foods must be hot held at 135 F or above to prevent pathogen growth. Raw shrimp, chicken, steak, and fish in refrigeration drawers below the grill had internal temperatures of 46 F, 47 F, 48 F, and 45 F respectively. TCS foods must be cold-held at 41 F or below to prevent pathogen growth. Green sauce, cooked seafood, and cooked carne in cooler had date marks of Feb. 11, Feb. 13, and Feb. 12 respectively. Refrigerated, ready-to-eat, TCS foods throughout including cooked rice, cut leafy greens, cooked shredded chicken and guacamole were not date marked. Working containers of chemical solutions throughout are not labeled with the common name of their contents. Working containers of chemical solutions stored alongside food items on a storage shelf in the kitchen.

Wee Cherish Preschool, 60724 Southgate Road, Byesville. Employees are not informed in a verifiable manner of their responsibility to report information about their health. Raw eggs were stored above carrots. The chlorine concentration in the third compartment initially registered 0 ppm. Chlorine levels must be at least 50 ppm to ensure dishes are being effectively sanitized.

Feb. 22

Theo's Restaurant, 630-32 Wheeling Ave., Cambridge. PIC did not ensure temperatures were being checked and maintained. The person in charge did not ensure employees were preventing cross contamination of foods with bare hands by using suitable utensils. Attempted to discuss barehand contact prevention with ready-to-eat foods, but manager indicated it was not a problem as long as employees washed their hands. He became increasingly argumentative during the inspection and our communication ended. Several employees did not wash their hands as required. Large containers cooled in cooler without being broken down into shallow pans or using ice baths or ice wands. The facility had ice wands, but PIC was not ensuring employees were using them to cool foods from 135 F to below 41 F within six hours. An employee was washing hands in the three-compartment sink in the front grill area instead of the handwashing sink next to it. Employees throughout the facility not washing hands at the required frequency. Food employees on the grill line were switching gloves regularly, but not washing their hands after being contaminated and before putting on new gloves. A waitress staff/food employee was touching her pants and drinking and did not wash her hands afterward. At the time of inspection, only two employees were properly washing their hands. Observed an employee preparing coney dogs with their bare hands. After handling two with her bare hands, I advised the employee she needed to wear gloves. The employee ignored what I said and continued handling food with her bare hands. I attempted to discuss bare-hand contact with manager who didn't find anything wrong with bare-hand contact and said he "agreed to disagree." Sanitizer buckets and sanitizer bottles were observed sitting in the handwashing sink in the bar area. Raw chicken and fish stored above bacon bits and vegetables in prep unit. The bottom of the pan for tomatoes was sitting in direct contact with mozzarella cheese. Non-food contact surfaces or unclean surfaces may not be in direct contact with food. Pan needs removed immediately and contaminated cheese needs discarded. Food in prep units and refrigeration units throughout the facility were uncovered. Some TCS foods were above 41 F: tomatoes that were sitting in a pan on top of mozzarella cheese registered 54 F in the prep unit; ham in the salad prep unit registered 46-48 F. TCS food must be held at 41 F to prevent the growth of harmful organisms. Jack sauce that is made in-house was being stored in the dry storage room at room temperature. TCS foods must be held at 41 F or below or 135 F or above to prevent the growth of harmful organisms. The ranch dressing upstairs was date marked Feb. 14 and was not discarded on Feb. 20. Several TCS foods throughout the facility were not date marked, such as potatoes, sauerkraut, noodles, cole slaw and Jack sauce. The wash temperature for the dishwasher initially registered below 150 F. The temperature of the data plate registered 135 F and is required to be at least 160 F. Wash solution temperature is required to be at least 150 F. Another cycle was run and the temperature registered 149-150 F.

Feb. 23

Central Station Steak and Ale, 2281 Central Ave., Cambridge. PIC is unable to demonstrate knowledge by having no critical violations. Multiple critical violations were observed. No verifiable employee health reporting agreement could be located. The handwashing sink in the bar area is being used for storage and is obstructed by vacuum cleaners. Utensils were stored in the handwashing sink in the kitchen. Food in coolers and freezers were uncovered. Pre-cooked, TCS foods are being placed directly from a cold state into the hot holding unit until the time of service. Cooked, TCS foods must be rapidly reheated before being placed in hot holding units. Cut tomatoes, cut leafy greens, cheese slices, shredded cheeses, butter, and batters at temperatures ranging from 44 F to 73 F. Refrigerated, ready-to-eat TCS foods throughout are not date marked. No consumer advisory was observed on the menu. Direct connection between the sewage system and a drain originating from equipment in which food, portable equipment, or utensils are placed. Employees are using designated service sinks to thaw foods.

For further information on inspection reports or to view detailed reports visit https://www.guernseycountyhealthdepartment.org .

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: News of public record: Guernsey County restaurant inspections