Raw beef with ‘fuzzy growth’ and a sandwich shop ‘B’ grade: Restaurant scores (Jan. 16)

The News & Observer publishes a weekly roundup of restaurant sanitation scores to keep you up-to-date on the health grades at Triangle dining spots.

Sanitation scores and their corresponding letter grades are used in North Carolina to assess restaurants’ adherence to rules and standards intended to mitigate and prevent the spread of food-borne illnesses.

You’ve likely seen sanitation grade cards at restaurants you’ve visited, and The N&O previously explained what those scores mean and how they’re calculated.

Here are sanitation scores in Triangle counties for the week of Jan. 10-16.

Wake County sanitation scores

The Wake County sanitation grades database shows that 66 restaurant inspections were completed Jan. 10-16.

Most restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.

Two restaurants received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.

Penn Station East Coast Subs #320 (700 Cary Towne Blvd. in Cary) received a score of 87.5% during an inspection on Jan. 11.

  • The restaurant was in violation of 11 standards. Of these, nine were considered critical violations.

  • Critical violations included finding the meat slicer, fry bins, colander and chicken prep sink all with old, dried food residue, and the chlorine solution in the sanibucket near the slicer was not a the correct level.

  • Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

  • The restaurant previously scored 95% in July 2023 and 97% in January 2023.

Toyar’s BBQ & Hot Pot Restaurant (4075 Davis Dr. in Morrisville) received a score of 84% during an inspection on Jan. 10.

Note: The restaurant at this address is listed as 12 Ji Hot Pot in Morrisville’s small business directory and on Yelp.

  • The restaurant was in violation of 19 standards. Of these, 14 were considered critical violations.

  • Critical violations included finding raw beef in the walk-in cooler with “fuzzy growth” and an employee handling and preparing produce with their bare hands.

  • Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

  • There are no records of previous inspections for this restaurant, per Wake County inspection grades.

No restaurants received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but less than 80%.

No restaurants received a failing grade, or a score below 70%.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Wake County at wake-nc.healthinspections.us.

Durham County sanitation scores

The Durham County inspection management system shows 20 restaurant inspections were completed Jan. 10-16.

All restaurants received an A grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Durham County at bit.ly/3pVQfpG.

Orange County sanitation scores

The Orange County inspection management system shows that three restaurant inspections were completed Jan. 10-16.

All restaurants received an A grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Orange County at bit.ly/3eQqpxc.

Johnston County sanitation scores

The Johnston County sanitation inspections database shows that 10 restaurant inspections were completed Jan. 10-16.

All restaurants received an A grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Johnston County at johnston-nc.healthinspections.us.

Chatham County sanitation scores

The Chatham County inspections management system shows that that one restaurant inspection was completed Jan. 10-16. The establishment received an A grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Chatham County at bit.ly/3JfiHwq.

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