Rodents, soiled floors & more in Greenville area restaurants with worst August inspections

Rodents, food at impoper temperatures and soiled floors were among the findings of South Carolina Department of Agriculture inspectors during August at Greenville area restaurants.

In all, 375 routine and followup inspections were completed with 343 of them scoring A, 25 B and the rest C, the lowest grade the state gives.

Corona’s Mexican Restaurant on Augusta Street was graded 74, a C, on Aug. 13.

An inspector found the water in a sink was not hot enough, the men’s restroom did not have soap and sanitizer for the warewashing machine, which did not have chlorine in it.

Tomato puree was stored in an open container, a can opener blade was soiled with food debris and black bio-film was in the ice machine.

Rice was reheated in the steam table at 92 F rather than the required 165 F within a two-2 hour time frame.

Several products prepared on the previous day were not properly cooled.

The back door to the kitchen was missing the handle and had gaps around the edges and floor. Flies were seen in the kitchen.

Moisture dripped from the HVAC unit onto a counter where preparation of food was being conducted, several ingredient bins/containers stored were open on shelving under counters where prep/work is performed and lids were soiled with food debris. A container of sauce was stored in the ice machine and the handle of an ice scoop was submerged in the ice bin.

Clean but wet pans and glasses were stacked on shelving. A shelf at the soda station was made of wood, which is not easily cleanable.

The bar warewashing machine did not have a cleaning agent and a microwave oven was soiled with food debris.

Ceiling tiles were in poor condition and not cleanable. Food debris and grime was on the floor of the bar area under equipment and kitchen floors were not clean. Bluefin Sushi Burger Bar, inspected on Aug. 12, received a 77 and was graded a C.

Among the findings at the Stone Avenue restaurant were an employee not washing hands before preparing food, the men’s restroom water temperature was not hot enough and there was no soap or paper towels.

The sushi bar hand sink and the bar area did not have paper towels.

Ketchup was stored in an open can, a container of pesticide was not approved for use in a food service establishment and a package of tuna and imitation crabmeat was thawing on a cart in the kitchen area.

Several rolling storage bins of products were not labeled and bottles of liquid on the cook line were not labeled.

Food was stored on the floor of a walk-in freezer, a wet towel was used/stored on a counter with no sanitizer solution available and cutting boards were stored on a sink faucet leaning against a wall.

Single use items were exposed to splash, dust, or other contamination less than 6 inches off the floor.

Hot water faucets at both hand sinks in the sushi bar area were missing.

Food debris and grease was seen on the kitchen floor under and behind cooking equipment and refrigeration units on the cook line.

Epic Buffet of East Bank on Grandview Drive in Simpsonville was inspected on July 29, given a 75 C, follow up on Aug. 8 earned an 86 C, on Aug. 18, 85 C and on Aug. 28, the restaurant scored 99, an A.

During the first inspection, the inspector found a hand sink inaccessible due to a knife sharpener over the sink basin and saw an employee fill a container with water from the hand sink.

The warewashing machine had no chlorine and an employee did not immerse dishes in a chlorine based sanitizer for more than seven seconds. Various foods were stored at improper temperatures including crab meat, frog legs, marinated crab, garlic and oil mix, chili and oil mix, cut sausage, raw chicken, cooked rice, noodles, the salad station, grilled chicken, tomatoes and boiled eggs.

Not labeled were spray bottles and sanitizer buckets.

Liquid detergent was on the same shelf next to clean knives.

The back door had gaps at the bottom and broken screens.

Open sauce buckets were on the floor in front of the cook line and frozen chicken was in a bus tub on the floor of the walk-in freezer.

Multiple utensils were in different sauces, rices, and spices and the pipes under a prep sink leaked.

When an inspector went back on Aug. 8, an employee was cutting cooked ready to eat potatoes bare handed, a big spray bottle was not labeled, liquid detergent was on the same shelf next to clean knives.

The back door had not been repaired.

The walk-in freezer door was broken, a cooler without a handle was accessed with a metal wire.

Pipes were leaking.

On Aug. 18, an inspector found no chlorine in the dish machine and improper temperature of mac and cheese and shrimp balls and sushi rice, honey ham, sweet potatoes were past the 4 hour window for time as a public health control. Multiple wiping cloths were not stored in a sanitizer solution and pipes were leaking.

During the final inspection, the facility was marked down only for wiping cloths not stored in sanitizer solution.

Junction Restaurant on Highway 14 In Landrum was ranked 83, a B, on Aug, 6, 77, a C, on Aug. 13, and 100 on Aug. 20, an A.

During the first inspection, an employee did not have gloves on to handle raw beef patties and cooked rice.

The only hand sink was blocked and full of various items that were not listed in the report. Multiple deep pans of egg salad did not have a date marking, a tub of sliced pork was sitting on a prep table at improper temperature. Rodent droppings were seen, and condensation dripped over the food prep area.

The floor needed repair in many areas.

At the next inspection, a hand sink was blocked and an employee was washing hands in the prep sink. Salt brine and milk based batter were at improper temperatures.

In the walk-in cooler, the inspector noted cooked elbow noodle, prepared mac, batter were without proper date marking. Hot dogs in a deli low boy from the previous day were not date marked.

Roaches were seen in the dish room, which had dirty surfaces. Condensation dripped over the food prep area. An ice scoop rested in ice.and there was excessive build up of organic matter in the kitchen and dish area.

An open dumpster lid was surrounded by debris and there was an open grease bin.

Many areas of the kitchen floor needed repair.

Shortfields on North Main Street in Simpsonville was graded a B with 82 points on Aug. 7 and 93, a C, on Aug. 15 and an A, 97 points, on Aug. 18.

The restaurant was cited for ice contamination on multiple meats and bagged products, foods at improper temperatures, including chili, ranch, blue cheese, tartar sauce, coleslaw and pico.

Multiple stand up refrigerators and cold lines lacked ambient temperature measuring devices and several bags of meat, opened, and unopened boxes in a freezer had direct contact to ice.

There was a hole in the ceiling on the right side of hood vents.. a walk-in freezer with a broken door not sealing properly and the left side of the hood vent above the fryer, grill, and stove top were duct taped together.

There was a build up of food debris and organic material behind the grill, burners, and fryers and the lighting was not bright enough.

During the followup on Aug. 15, the inspector found food at improper temperatures, food loosely covered or uncovered and not protected from overhead contamination. The walk-in freezer door had not been repaired and lighting was insufficient..

On Aug. 18, the freezer door and lighting deficit had not been addressed.