Hot water failures, grease buildup: See January’s Centre County restaurant inspections

Matt DiSanto
·5 min read

At least one Centre County establishment was found out of compliance following food safety inspections conducted throughout January.

The month’s lone failed inspection largely surrounded hot water issues at a downtown fast-food chicken establishment.

Information regarding county establishments and their violations appears below in an alphabetical list with a summary of the problems inspectors noted in their respective reports. More details are available upon request by visiting the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s online database.

Nearly 40 other establishments passed their inspections with few or no violations. They also appear alphabetically below.

Business owners who wish to clarify or comment on inspection results can contact Centre Daily Times reporter Matt DiSanto by emailing mdisanto@centredaily.com.

About food safety inspections

Following commonwealth law, Pennsylvania’s eating and drinking establishments are inspected at least once per year. Some schools, including the State College Area School District, receive biannual inspections.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture may conduct additional inspections if complaints are received or if initial inspections are not up to code.

Most observed violations are minor in scope and are corrected during inspections, but some establishments may temporarily close if too many violations are found. Closures may occur as a result of other issues, including risks for foodborne illnesses or violations that take time to address, such as broken plumbing or pest infestations.

Most inspections in Centre County are conducted at the state level through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. More than 100 municipalities directly conduct their health inspections through certified officials who fall under their jurisdiction. State College, for example, is responsible for performing inspections in the borough and in Ferguson, Patton and College townships, a borough official said.

Once inspections are complete and reports are published, you can browse them online by visiting pafoodsafety.state.pa.us/web/inspection/publicinspectionsearch.aspx. You can look up establishments by name or filter results to specific cities, counties and ZIP codes.

Out-of-compliance inspections

Wings Over Happy Valley, 244 W. Hamilton Ave. in State College — A Jan. 15 routine inspection found three violations at this restaurant, all of which concerned its water temperature.

According to borough sanitarian Brian O’Donnell’s report, Wings Over Happy Valley’s hot water for handwashing reached just 59 degrees Fahrenheit, falling below code requirements.

The handwashing sinks located in the restaurant’s kitchen did not have water reaching the required 80-degree mark. Additionally, the water heater connected to hand sinks, mop sinks and compartment sinks did not supply water hot enough for handwashing (80 degrees) and cleaning of food contact surface (110 degrees). No problems were found with the mechanical dishwashers, which operated at 120 degrees as required.

Restaurant staff received hand sanitizer products to use after washing hands with cold water while waiting for hot water to return to service.

Wings Over Happy Valley returned to compliance following a follow-up inspection Jan. 25. That inspection, also conducted by O’Donnell, found accumulated dust on the restaurant’s steamer, oil tanks and other equipment, plus grease buildup on the floors beneath fryers and other kitchen equipment. Both were noted as repeat violations but did not necessitate a noncompliant inspection or any closures.

How to complain about conditions

If you see a problem at a retail food or lodging establishment, you can file a complaint to catch officials’ attention.

To notify the commonwealth about questionable conditions anywhere food is served or sold to the public, call 1-866-366-3723 or fill out the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s food safety complaint form, available online at pda.pa.gov/FoodSafetyComplaint/. The form asks for consumer information, facility details and a full description of each complaint.

You can also contact the commonwealth’s Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services directly by calling 717-787-4315 or emailing RA-FoodSafety@pa.gov.

Locally, you can report concerns to State College officials by calling 814-234-7100 or emailing healthdept@statecollegepa.us.

These businesses passed inspections in January

  • Alder’s Market, 1185 Philipsburg-Bigler Highway in Philipsburg

  • Bee’s Knees Coffee, 114 E. College Ave. in Bellefonte

  • Belle City Bites, 198 Match Factory Place in Bellefonte

  • Bellefonte Elementary School, 110 W. Linn St. in Bellefonte

  • Berkey Creamery, 119 Food Science Building in University Park

  • Cafe Luna, 214 N. Main St. in Bellefonte

  • Champs Downtown, 139 S. Allen St. in State College

  • Convenient Smoke N Subs Express, 300 S. Pugh St. C - 106 in State College

  • Creekside at the Gamble Mill, 160 Dunlap St., Suite 101 in Bellefonte

  • Dunkin, 1161 Philipsburg-Bigler Highway in Philipsburg

  • Family Dollar No. 33680, 491 E. Sycamore Road in Snow Shoe

  • Farmstead Fusion (MFF4), 504 Tressler Ave. in Howard

  • Fuel On, 911 Walton St. in Philipsburg

  • Howard Elementary School, 255 School St., P.O. Box 406 in Howard

  • JAX Bar and Kitchen, 127 E. Calder Way in State College

  • Kodiak Rush LLC, 2042 Axemann Road in Bellefonte

  • Kondu, 132 S. Allen St. in State College

  • Liberty Curtin Elementary School, 1125 N. Eagle Valley Road, P.O. Box 213 in Blanchard

  • Minit Mart No. 235, 325 Front St. in Philipsburg

  • Mountaintop Area Elementary School, 100 School Drive in Snow Shoe

  • Mountaintop Pit Stop, 529 E. Sycamore Road in Snow Shoe

  • New Hope United Methodist Church (TSF4), 1089 E. College Ave. in Bellefonte

  • Nittany Valley True Value, 1169 Nittany Valley Drive in Bellefonte

  • Old Pop’s Corny, 1374 Troy Hawk Run Highway in Philipsburg

  • Pizza Mia, 106 N. Spring St. in Bellefonte

  • Red Horse Tavern, 104 N. Main St. in Pleasant Gap

  • Shandygaff, 217 E. Calder Way in State College

  • Sleep Inn, 111 Village Drive in State College

  • Smoke Square, 341 W. Lamb St. in Bellefonte

  • Smoker’s Square, 300 Willowbank St. in Bellefonte

  • Stone Meadow Farms (MMF2), 190 Quarry Road in Woodward

  • Sweets of Gold, 200-1 Mill St. in Milesburg

  • The Buck Stop, 2689 Port Matilda Highway in Philipsburg

  • The Dead Canary Brewing Co., 5 N. Front St. in Philipsburg

  • The Meandering Mallard Coffee House, 106 E. Main St. in Millheim

  • Warnock Dining Commons, 203 Warnock Commons in University Park

Note: Occasionally, a listed address — especially for mobile vendors and food trucks — is not where food is actually served to the public. Contact those establishments for specific service locations.