Stratford Restaurant Inspections: A 'Rough Batch'

Stuffed pizza 62 degrees short of its required minimum hot holding temperature. Mozzarella cheese 23 degrees over its prescribed maximum cold holding threshold. Toxic chemicals improperly labeled and stored near food.

These were some of the significant violations included in a round of Stratford restaurant inspections compiled by Stratford Patch.

“There’s really no explanation,” says Andrew Anderson, an inspector at the Stratford Health Department who provided the scores. “It’s just one of those rough batches.”

Anderson pulled the files of 12 Stratford restaurants, eateries whose inspections were requested by followers of the Stratford Patch Facebook page.

Out of the 12, eight failed.

A restaurant fails an inspection when it receives a score below 81 or a four-point violation. The business then has two weeks to correct the marked violation(s) before a re-inspection.

Common four-point demerits, which are the harshest deductions, include improper hand washing, food temperature violations and improper storage of toxic chemicals.

Food in hot holding must be kept at 140 degrees or higher; food in cold holding is required to be stored at 45 degrees or less.

Anderson says restaurant owners are shown the inspection form before opening. 

For this list, we’ve included some specific violations for all failed inspections as well as those scores under 90.

Station House Wine Bar & Grill

Inspected: Nov. 18

Score: 81 (pass)

Violation(s): shelf rusting in basement; thermometer missing in walk-in cooler; dirty can opener.

Stella’s

Inspected: Dec. 16

Score: 89 (pass)

Violation(s): shelving in painted reach-in refrigerator rusting; improper resting of food.

Hong Kong Cafe

Inspected: Sept. 9

Score: 94 (pass)

Lumi

Inspected: Nov. 6

Score: 64 (fail)

Violation(s): unlabeled spray bottle containing soap, sanitizer stored with liquor at bar (both four-point demerits); butter in hot holding at 127 degrees, tomato broth at 119 degrees, marinara sauce at 110 degrees (also four-pointers).

Lumi re-inspected: Dec. 4

Score: 97 (pass)

Duchess Diner

Inspected: Nov. 20

Score: 80 (fail)

Violation(s): missing consumer advisory regarding egg products (four-pointer).

Acapulco’s

Inspected: Dec. 16

Score: 88 (fail)

Violation(s): beef on grill (hot holding) at 120 degrees (four-pointer).

Star Pizza

Inspected: Dec. 9

Score: 82 (pass)

Violation(s): missing consumer advisory; deep groves on cutting board.

Marnick’s

Inspected: Dec. 4

Score: 81 (fail)

Violation(s): tomatoes in cold holding at 54 degrees (four-pointer).

Danny’s Drive-In

Inspected: Nov. 15

Score: 87 (fail)

Violation(s): Windex in spray bottle unlabeled (four-pointer).

Main Wah

Inspected: July 26

Score: 81 (fail)

Violation(s): WD-40 stored near container of salt under prep table (four-pointer).

Villa Pizza

Inspected: Dec. 9

Score: 93 (fail)

Violation(s): stuffed pizza in hot holding at 78 degrees (four-pointer).

Salerno’s

Inspected: Aug. 23

Score: 86 (fail)

Violation(s): mozzarella cheese in cold holding at 68 degrees (four-pointer).