This month 18 restaurants found themselves in trouble with the health inspector.
This month 18 restaurants found themselves in trouble with the health inspector.

Subscribe

* indicates required

Halloween may be over but, man, there are some reports last month that will give you the chills. Such as, one employee handling food with a bandaged finger and no gloves. Ew. On the plus side, China Palace, The Red Sombrero, Kung Fu Tea, Nudy’s Cafe, Los Alquisiras, and La Rancherita Mexican are all back in compliance. There are so many this month I am ranking them from least to most violations. (Continue at your own risk.)  

Wasabi, Bradford Plaza, out, 2 violations including raw fish stored above other ready-to-eat fish – reorder that fish and hopefully we’ll be good to go!

Blazin’ J’s, 139 W. Gay St, out, 2 violations including a few cleaning tasks and flies in the restaurant. Hopefully, this week’s cold snap will put an end to that.

Applebee’s, 1107 West Chester Pike, out, 3 violations including dirty mainline cooking equipment and floors in the food service area.  

Steaks West Chester, 698 E. Market St, out, 4 violations. According to this month’s reports, Steaks West Chester failed their opening inspection; a fact that did not affect opening weekend. Violations mostly had to do with malfunctioning equipment. 

So Sabroso (formerly the West Goshen Deli), 105 C Westtown Rd, out, 4 violations including squeeze bottles not labeled with the common name of the contents and no sink for the mop. 

Gadaleto’s Seafood Market, 1193 Wilmington Pike, out, 4 violations including counters, floors, and pans not cleaned at the end of the day. 

Timothy’s West Chester, 929 S. High St, out, 5 violations including dented cans intended for use and raw chicken and cut produce stored at unsafe temperatures. These items were discarded onsite.  

Kildare’s Irish Pub, W. Gay St, out, 5 violations including several leaking sinks, a broken walk-in refrigerator door, and not getting in the corners. “Although all floors have been cleaned, additional cleaning is still needed,” the report read. 

Farm Store, 1596 Paoli Pike, out, 7 violations including having no prep sink to wash the oranges being used in the Zumm juice machine. Hope that doesn’t mean they just weren’t washing the juiced fruit… 

Great China, 929 S. High Street, out, 7 violations including bulk foods in need of a label, no place to hang the mop, and no thermometer to check internal food temperatures.

Giant Sushi Counter, Bradford Plaza, out 7 violations, including Poke Bowls not being stored at sufficiently cold temps and a dirty ledge between the prep area and 3-compartment sink. 

Baan Thai Sabaidee, 704 W. Neilds St., out, 8 violations including an ice machine not clean to sight and touch, and using sponges to clean food contact surfaces. Sponges, FYI, are absorbent and spread bacteria. The more you know. 

Love Again Local, 18 S. Church St, out, 10 violations including employees not properly washing their hands, dented cans intended for use, and “non-food contact surfaces not cleaned at a frequency to preclude accumulation of dirt and soil.”

Ram’s Head Diner, 907 S. High St, out, 13 violations including foods stored in a way to encourage contamination; potatoes stored in the shed out back; and food service equipment, a dishwasher and floors in need of scrubbing. 

Oriental Pearl Restaurant, 1550 Paoli Pike, out, 16 violations including employees touching foods with bare hands, foods stored in a way to encourage contamination, soups and veggies stored at improper temperatures, and an ice bin observed to have food residue on it. 

America’s Pie, 323 E. Gay St., out, 21 violations including steam tables not keeping items warm enough and coolers not keeping them cold enough. Potentially hazardous ready-to-eat food was stored without proper date marking and the restaurant failed to disclose the recipe for its house garlic sauce. Seriously. “Facility must provide CCHD with the recipe for in-house prepared Garlic hot sauce.” Of course, that it was found on the counter unrefrigerated probably didn’t help. 

Gramm’s Kitchen, 557 E. Gay St., out, 22 violations including staff not washing hands between tasks, eating while working, and not changing out their gloves when they become contaminated. Eggs were found left out on the counter and discarded. The restaurant was left with a list of cleaning tasks.

Brother’s Pizza, 670 Downingtown Pike, out, 25 violations including employees not washing hands, wiping clothes without sanitizer solution, and food splash buildup found along the walls and on several appliances. The restaurant also did not have a policy outlining when employees should discard cooked pizza. According to the health inspector, the answer is within 4 hours. 

And finally… 

Restaurante Morelos, 611 W. Strasburg Rd, out, 29 violations including employees “washing” their hands without using soap and handling food with bare hands. One employee was reportedly handling food with bare hands while his hand was bandaged prompting the inspector to write, “Cover with a glove to ensure these items do not become lost in the food.” Ew. Also, ice stored on the floor, lettuce with a dirty sour cream bottle on top, dead cockroaches found by the backdoor, and bottles of Raid found on the kitchen shelf. Chemicals were removed and the facility ordered to be immediately treated by pest control.  

You can find all the Restaurant Inspection reports here. Search by location for more details. 

Originally published, Nov. 3, 2023


This story is part of a longer weekly West Chester newsletter. Curious what else is going on? You can find the full issue here and the latest newsletter here. Even easier? Subscribe here to get future issues delivered directly to your inbox.

Leave a Reply