‘Filthy’ floors and no hot water: See Stanislaus County restaurant inspection results

Dominique Williams
·3 min read

One Stanislaus County restaurant was storing raw chicken above raw produce, while a local store that sells food had a broken water heater, dust buildup and a dirty and stained floor.

Meanwhile, another area eatery had defrosting chicken that was leaking juices onto the floor.

Those were some of the notable conditions Stanislaus County health inspectors found at food facilities in late January and early February.

The majority of the 2,400 permitted food service establishments in Stanislaus County receive two routine unannounced food safety inspections per year, according to the department. The website says inspection reports are scanned weekly.

Of the 51 restaurant inspection reports sent to The Modesto Bee on Tuesday, seven were not updated on the site.

If an inspection listed below needs clarification, business owners can email Modesto Bee reporter Dominique Williams at dwilliams@modbee.com.

What was found during Stanislaus County inspections?

The following Stanislaus County restaurants had violations the week of Jan. 21-28. Only the dates of violations are listed.

The details of the reports do not indicate whether a restaurant passed or failed inspection. Corrective actions may have been made by the business by the time of publication.

The reports are linked. For updates on individual restaurants, search the DER website.

Kentucky Fried Chicken/ A&W, 1560 E F St. in Oakdale, had three violations during an inspection on Jan. 30 following a complaint alleging cold food. Inspectors found that the food-holding equipment was not within the proper temperature ranges for both hot and cold foods. They also noticed that chicken being defrosted in the walk-in refrigerator was leaking juices onto the floor.

Code C Cafe Commissary, inside the Kaiser Permanente Medical Offices building at 3800 Dale Road in Modesto, had all of its equipment removed from the second floor where the cafe was located when inspectors visited on Feb. 1.

When the county attempted to conduct the routine inspection, a security guard informed the inspector that representatives of the cafe removed the last of the equipment “a couple months ago.”

An inspection report from December 2021 shows the facility had not operated at all that year “due to restrictions from the ongoing pandemic.” A report from November 2020 says the business has been closed since March 2020.

Golden Bowl Chinese Restaurant, 7144 Hughson Ave. in Hughson, had two violations during an inspection Feb. 2 — both of them major. Inspectors observed raw chicken on the top shelf of a storage rack in the walk-in refrigerator and raw produce stored below it. This is a cross contamination risk, according to the county. Sanitizer buckets were not set up and strips were not available to test sanitizer levels. Both violations were corrected at the time of inspection.

99 Cent Only Stores No. 0313 (EH), 2205 McHenry Ave. in Modesto, had five violations during an inspection on Feb. 2 following a complaint alleging several sanitary issues, including a “filthy” restroom and floors.

Violations included a lack of hot water, a walk-in cooler that was storing dairy products at a temperature that was too high, a dirty and stained floor and dust buildup throughout the facility. Three of the violations were considered “major,” according to Stanislaus County.

At the time of the discount store’s first reinspection, only the refrigerator temperature had been fixed. In addition to the other previous violations, inspectors found that the water heater was broken.

Three of the four remaining violations had been corrected by the second reinspection, reports showed, but the store still didn’t have a food safety certification.

Blaze BBQ Mediterranean Fusion, 4925 Sisk Road Suite J in Salida, was closed when the county attempted to conduct a routine inspection Feb. 2. Inspectors observed an order from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department posted on the front door of the facility. An operator with a neighboring food facility told inspectors Blaze had been closed for more than three months. The department said it has not been contacted regarding the operation status of this facility or for clarification on when Blaze ceased operations.

Other food facilities with three or more, or major, violations at the time of their inspections include:

Which facilities had clean health inspections?

According to Stanislaus County, food facilities that had zero to two violations, none of them major, include: