Passing grade for eateries

Students might think twice before eating at their favorite restaurants on the Drag as city health inspection scores show which are clean and which are not.

The city conducts health inspections every six months, and inspectors have the power to close establishments if they accumulate too many infractions. The last inspection period ended March 22, and since then some restaurants have been busy correcting errors to raise their scores.

Mark Parsons, a city health inspector for 25 years, said inspectors typically focus on the restaurant’s operation. Parsons said when he inspects a restaurant, he makes sure restaurant staff understand the ways to properly handle food and uphold personal hygiene standards.

When wandering around the kitchen and back rooms of restaurants, Parsons said he questions staff on how they cook and prepare their meals and whether or not they know how to handle certain food items such as raw meat.

“It is how you do those basics that is difficult,” said Parsons.

He said inspectors also monitor the cooking and cooling processes in restaurants to make sure their food is being properly protected and conserved.

Parsons recalled one inspection where a restaurant had improperly cooled a brisket. He said the meat was completely frozen and surrounded by a crystallized layer of fat. The cooks said the brisket had been taken off the grill in the past half-hour. When he inspected the grill, he said it was apparent the grill had not been used.

“We are not trying to find mistakes,” Parsons said. “If you are approaching a restaurant, hopefully, they are not trying to get away with things.”

Restaurants get scores that range from 0 to 100, and any type of infraction results in a demerit. Certain infractions are worth more than others and the demerits an establishment accrues in one inspection get subtracted from the maximum possible score, almost similar to a school grade.

Improperly cooking food lowers the restaurant’s score by five points. Employees’ failures to wash their hands lower the score by four points. A lack of soap in the soap dispensers loses the restaurant three points. If an establishment is penalized by more than 30 points, charges could be filed and the restaurant could be closed, Parsons said.

Although the scores quantify the inspection, they sometimes do not accurately represent the establishment. The numbers of demerits and points taken from a restaurant can be misleading. A restaurant could have suffered a major infraction but still have a score of 90, Parsons said.

“You might have one individual that didn’t clean their hands after handling chicken, but that cost them eight to nine points,” Parsons said, who explained cumulative scores give people a better analysis of the restaurant’s health record. “Cumulatively, higher scores indicate they are controlling things.”

Parsons said 40 percent of demerits come from improperly sanitized equipment.

Along the Drag, restaurant owners are preparing for the next round of inspections.

In its last inspection, Madam Mam’s received a score of 70 for various infractions. Since November, the Thai restaurant has been rectifying its demerits.

“I think it was an issue of miscommunication between the kitchen people,” said Jack Jirananda, the general manager of the restaurant. “They misunderstood how to use the gloves.”

Instead of throwing away used gloves, kitchen staff would wash the gloves and reuse them, Jirananda said. The staff would also improperly wash their hands and improperly use the hand-washing sink to clean towels. The restaurant also had problems with its refrigerator.

Since October, a city ordinance has required all workers in food establishments to become certified food handlers. The new ruling has improved the health consciousness of Jirananda’s staff by mandating a two-hour food handling course, which teaches proper food preparation and storage, as well as personal hygiene.

Madam Mam’s has since changed their refrigerator and had its employees take the two-hour classes, Jirananda said. He said he expects the restaurant to do better on their next inspection.

Other restaurants along the Drag are trying to maintain their high scores.

Mellow Mushroom, a pizza parlor, was given a score of 93 in its last inspection. Paul Canderozzi, the restaurant’s general manager, attributes the score to common-sense managing and scheduled routines.

“It’s not just cleaning up spills as they happen but deep cleaning behind the units,” he said. “Everything is on a schedule.”

An improperly sealed sugar container under a sink and a cup-storage container with crumbs in it cost the restaurant six points. The infractions were immediately corrected in front of the health inspector, Canderozzi said.

He said there is a way for patrons to quickly identify whether a restaurant is clean.

“Look at their bathrooms,” Canderozzi said. “If a restaurant has neglected to clean their bathroom, then you know they don’t clean their kitchen. If their bathroom is gross, I don’t order food there.”

Health inspection scores (out of 100) for some popular restaurants
along the Drag, sorted from highest to lowest.
 

Source: City of Austin Restaurant Scores
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/health/restaurant_scores.htm
 

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