Old Town Alexandria Restaurant Inspections: Cockroach In Back

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Every wonder how clean your local restaurants are? City of Alexandria restaurants regularly undergo health inspections, with the frequency depending on the type of food served and how it is prepared. While violations like malfunctioning refrigerators and food that's not warm or cold enough aren't uncommon, health inspectors sometimes find more critical violations.

"In our experience, it is unrealistic to expect that a complex, full-service food operation can routinely avoid any violations," notes the Virginia Department of Health.

Here are full results for Old Town Alexandria restaurants through the last few weeks, which includes restaurants that passed with no violations. Among these violations were fruit flies and a cockroach spotted in Goody's Carryout. Health inspector provided tips to eliminate harborage conditions.

Click on the violations to see each restaurant's results. Full reports are usually available five to seven days after the inspection on the health department's website.

Violations

219 Restaurant: 219 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 17

violations: Light bulbs in the basement, above the three compartment sink and in the hallway are not covered by a protective shielding

District Taco: 701 S. Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 15

violations: Refrigeration unit is not currently operating as required to cold hold food at a temperature of 41°F or less: 4 drawer refrigeration unit is holding at 60 F, door gaskets of the following unit are (missing, damaged): the 4 drawer refrigeration unit is not shutting properly (bottom right drawer)

Don Taco: 808 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 24

violations: Employee washed gloved hands and then proceeded to prepare ready to eat food with the same gloved hands, ice used as a medium for cooling the exterior surfaces of food is also for beverage ice, food item(s) were measured at improper temperatures: -Prep refrigerator (right) - Guacamole, tuna -Walk in cooler (upstairs) - Raw beef, raw chicken, fried chicken -Ice bath: Salsa, empanada sauce, prepared ready to eat food in the walk in cooler that was not used within 24 hours of preparation was not properly dated for disposition within 7 days at 41°F, chlorine sanitizing solution used in bar dish machine was not at an acceptable concentration (0ppm) (all corrected), nonfood-contact surfaces of the following equipment were observed soiled with an accumulation of dust, dirt, food residue, and/or other debris: Exterior of fryers, back exterior of prep refrigerator, and vents of bar refrigerator

Dunkin Donuts: 1640 King, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 15

violations: observed the make unit with food residue on inside surfaces and observed milk spilled on inside surfaces of the barista cooler, observed a mold-like buildup on the inside of the ice bin, including the "ice shoot area"

Goody's Carryout: 1104 Queen St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 23

violations: Employees are not properly sanitizing cleaned multiuse equipment and utensils, observed raw foods stored amongst ready to eat foods in the 2 door traulsen reach in, observed metal food containers that were visibly soiled and stored for air-drying and observed soiled knives (all corrected), cutting boards along the right and left prep top units are heavily scratched and scored, (cavity, door seal) of the microwave oven is observed soiled, harborage conditions exist: observed dirty mop that was not in the mop bucket, observed back storage area to be dirty and in need of cleaning, observed an adult cockroach and several fruit flies

Italian Gourmet: 500 John Carlyle St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 18

violations: No Northern Virginia Certified Food Protection Manager on duty at the start of the inspection, raw animal food holding in a manner that may cause cross contamination of ready-to-eat food as follows: raw hamburger patties were stored above RTE cut sweet potatoes, food containers for cooling food are arranged so as not to allow for maximum heat transfer: tight plastic covers on tuna salad, cut sausage, and feta (all cooling), plastic holding containers and metal hotel pans on back storage rack were found stacked while wet after cleaning and chemical sanitation, mop is not hung up to air dry, chlorine sanitizer in sanitizing bucket being applied to food contact surfaces does not meet the requirements of 21 CFR 178.1010: tested at >200 ppm (all corrected), unlabeled food containers with the following food items that are not easily identified by appearance: several squeeze bottles and spice shakers near the front flip top unit and above the stovetop

Jack's Place: 222 N. Lee St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 22

violations: The following mechanical refrigeration unit is not currently operating as required to cold hold food at a temperature of 41°F or less: 2 door undercounter unit is holding at 54 F

Le Pain Quotidien: 701 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 12

violations: Observed employee drinking tea from an open container over the prep area (corrected), raw and/or undercooked foods are provided on the menu, menu board, table tent or brochure without proper disclosure: no asterisks on soft boiled egg for the baker's breakfast and smoked salmon breakfast; also no asterisks on option to add smoked salmon under avocado toast, baker's breakfast, lentil and avocado menu items, no test kit located in the facility for monitoring the concentration of the chemical sanitizing solutions for the chlorine dish machine

Royal Restaurant: 734 N. St. Asaph St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 22

violations: Food items for which time rather than temperature is being used as a control was not marked or otherwise identified to indicate the time that is 4 hours past the point in time when the food is removed from temperature control: Lasagna and cooked onions (corrected), no Northern Virginia Certified Food Protection Manager on duty during hours of operation, unwrapped or uncovered food observed in the reach in freezer

Stage Door: 1324 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 17

violations: A food employee failed to wash his or her hands before donning gloves to prepare ready to eat food, after handling money, food-contact surfaces of the following equipment were not observed sanitized: knife and cutting board, hand washing station in the front is being used for purposes other than washing hands (all corrected)

Sunday in Saigon: 682 N. St. Asaph St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 24

violations: Due to improper operation of the mechanical warewashing machine, equipment food-contact surfaces and utensils are not sanitized after cleaning (corrected), date on which the last shellstock from the container is sold or served was not recorded on the tag or label

Sweetgreen: 823 King St, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, last inspection: Oct. 23

violations: The following equipment/utensils were observed soiled to sight and touch: lid and containers for food, after warewashing had food debris on the surface (corrected), food containers were found stacked while wet after cleaning and chemical sanitation

TJ Stone's: 608 Montgomery St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 24

violations: Some light bulbs in the kitchen are not covered by a protective shielding, floor tiles, grout and coving is not maintained in good repair throughout kitchen

No Violations

Augie's Mussel House and Patio: 1106 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 12

violations: none

Grape and Bean: 118 S. Royal St, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, last inspection: Oct. 17

violations: none

Haute Dogs and Fries: 610 Montgomery St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 15

violations: none

Vermilion: 1120 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314, last inspection: Oct. 15

violations: none

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