New Orleans area restaurants cited for health violations, including roaches and flies

Louisiana Health Department inspects restaurants, bars and other eateries the same as Mississippi but reports the violations a little differently.

Mississippi’s website is more user-friendly while Louisiana provides much more information about the violations Coast residents who frequently dine in the New Orleans area may want to see.

Mississippi generally reports the violations the same day while Louisiana waits seven days “in an effort to ensure the accuracy of each report,” according to the website.

Mississippi uses an A, B, C grading system, with an A for no violations, a B when a violation is corrected during the inspection and a C for critical violations.

Restaurants in Slidell, New Orleans and throughout Louisiana are graded for critical and non-critical violations.

Critical violations are those more likely to lead to food contamination or illness. Those violations must be corrected immediately.

Non-critical violations are issues that could become critical if left uncorrected, according to the Retail Food Inspection website. These are violations like “walls/ceilings or attached equipment are not clean” and “food is stored where it is exposed to splash, dust or other contaminations.” Non-critical violations should be corrected by the next regular inspection, or according to the compliance schedule.

Slidell restaurants

These restaurants were inspected since June 1 in Slidell and had critical violations that were not corrected during the inspection:

Gilligis Island, 4826 Pontchartrain Drive, Slidell was inspected June 1 for a permit renewal.

It had eight critical violations:

▪ Ready to eat, potentially hazardous food prepared on premises and held for more than 24 hours is not date marked.

▪ An approved cooling method was not used to meet temperature requirements during cooling.

▪ A current state food safety certificate is not held by owner or a designated employee.

▪ Raw animal food is not separated from ready to eat food, or is placed, stored or displayed above ready to eat food.

▪ Equipment and/or utensils are not constructed of approved materials.

▪ Chlorine sanitizer concentration for washing is not at proper temperature.

▪ Working containers of chemicals are not labeled.

▪ Flies are present in the establishment.

At the June 1 inspection, there were also four non-critical violations. The inside bar had three critical and the outside one critical.

A follow-up inspection on June 6 showed all the critical violations were corrected, except at the indoor bar, which continued to have a critical violation for chlorine sanitizer concentration.

DQ Grill & Chill, 1130 Gause Blvd., Slidell, had a follow-up inspection June 5.

Critical violations were:

▪ Ready to eat, potentially hazardous food prepared on premises and held for more than 24 hours is not date marked.

▪ Food contact surfaces and utensils are not clean to sight and touch — cutting boards throughout

The restaurant also had 11 non-critical issues.

Racetrac, 1717 Shortcut Highway, Slidell, was inspected June 2 for a permit renewal.

Critical violation was: Flies are present in the establishment.

The service center also had two non-critical violations not corrected during the inspection.

New Orleans restaurants

Those places cited in New Orleans since June 1 are:

Galatoire’s Restaurant, 209 Bourbon St., was inspected June 1 for a permit approval. It had eight critical violations, five of which were corrected on site. It also had 12 non-critical violations.

The critical violations not corrected were:

▪ Roaches are present in the establishment.

▪ Ready to eat, potentially hazardous food prepared on premises and held for more than 24 hours is not date marked.

▪ Ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food prepared on premises, and held under refrigeration, was not disposed of after 7 days

Critical violations corrected on site were:

▪ Approved cooling method was not used to meet temperature requirements during cooling

▪ Employee did not wash hands and exposed portions of arms at appropriate time.

▪ Single use gloves were not discarded after interruptions in food operations

▪ Food contact surfaces and utensils are not clean to sight and touch.

▪ Chemicals are stored with/above food, equipment, utensils, linens, single-service or single use articles.

Hunan Wok, 2201 St. Bernard Ave., New Orleans, was inspected June 2 for a permit renewal. It had six critical violations, two of which were corrected on site. It also had nine non-critical violations.

It was cited for:

▪ Ready to eat, potentially hazardous food prepared on premises and held for more than 24 hours is not date marked.

▪ Raw animal food is not separated from ready to eat food, or is placed, stored or displayed above ready to eat food. Also raw animal foods with different cooking temperature requirements are not separated to prevent cross contamination during storage, preparation or display.

▪ Three compartment sink is not used in proper sequence to wash, rinse and sanitize.

▪ An approved sanitizer is not being used during manual or mechanical warewashing.

Critical violations corrected during the inspection were:

▪ Employee was eating in an area where food, utensils or other items requiring protection were stored.

▪ Food was not prepared with the least possible manual contact, with suitable utensils and on surfaces that have been cleaned, rinsed and sanitized prior to use to prevent cross-contamination,

The Midway on Freret Street, 4725 Freret St., New Orleans, had a follow-up inspection June 5. It had two critical violations:

▪ Current state food safety certificate is not held by the owner or a designated employee, a repeat offense

▪ Unapproved chemicals are used in the food establishment, a repeat offense that was corrected on site

Saba restaurant, 5757 Magazine St., New Orleans, was inspected June 2 for a permit renewal.

It had two critical violations:

▪ Cross contamination, with raw animal food not separated from ready to eat food, or placed, stored or displayed above ready to eat food.

▪ Food stored for cold-holding and service was not held at a temperature of 41 degrees or below, which was corrected on site.

It also had three non-critical items.

Cafe Chot Nho restaurant, 14399 Chef Menteur Highway, New Orleans, was inspected June 6 for a permit renewal. It had five critical violations, four of which were corrected on site, including food contact equipment and utensils not cleaned, a repeat offense. It also had nine non-critical issues

Silkies, 3816 Magnolia S., New Orleans had a preliminary inspection June 2 and was cited for a critical violation of inadequate backflow prevention. It also had three non-critical issues.

No certification

Restaurants in South Mississippi have had issues keeping staff certified to make sure health procedures are followed, and three restaurants in the New Orleans area also were cited since June 1 for not having a current state food safety certificate not held by the owner or a designated employee. They are:

Brewsky’s Bar & Grill, 2205 David Dr., Metairie

Barrow’s Catfish, 1200 Poydras St., New Orleans

Surrey’s Cafe, 1418 Magazine St., New Orleans

Louisiana inspects restaurants one to four times a year depending on the type of operations. Inspectors generally do not announce when they plan to visit.