This feature on Northborough Patch lists the latest health inspections conducted by the town's Health Agent Jamie Terry. Inspections are conducted regularly, and are unannounced visits.
It is important to note that Terry has often stressed that it is very rare for an establishment to always receive a perfect inspection score.
The following list is one of a three-part series that we will run in successsion. Since inspections stretch back to mid-summer, and Patch is able to obtain the inspection information only after it is shared with the Board of Health, we have broken into segments so it is easier to read.
Three critical violations marked the inspection of Yoong Tong Thai Restaurant in July, noting that the sushi log was not updated, the vegetable unit was too high and the dish machine did not have adequate strength sanitizer. And though there were no flies present during the inspection, Terry noted that it is a noncritical violation to hang a fly swatter in the food area. Also, labels and dates were needed for sauces.
An inspection of the now-closed Sea Dog Steak & Ale on July 19 resulted in ten critical violations, some of which related to cockroach issues as well as raw food improperly stored. These issues were corrected, and Terry stresses that "Sea Dog did not close as a result of the inspections."
Inspections for the month of August began with a visit to Guiseppe's Grille, which resulted in six critical violations. These violations included raw meat being stored above cooked food and dough, a grill cooler that exceeded the maximum temperature, dishes not washed in a commercial dishwasher, expired cereal and bread, ready-to-eat foods prepared without wearing gloves, numerous fruit flies at the waitress station, water pooling under the dish rinse sink and grills that needed cleaning. All of these violations were corrected either immediately, or by the next inspection a month later.
On Aug. 7, Terry dropped in to Bistro Limoncello, which dealt with seven critical violations on that day. Among the violations: bread stored on a shelf under personal items, a dish machine that had run out of sanitizer, rags not stored in sanitizing solution, uncovered bread, food debris on shelving units, a dirty slicer, dirty knives at the waitress station and undercooked meat. These issues were corrected by Oct. 17. "Good" notes from Terry included allergen compliance, a very clean bar, and a pasta case at the correct temperature.
LalaJava Coffeehouse had five critical marks on its evaluation on Aug. 13. A leak under the food prep sink, food products stored on the floor, rags on the counter, employees not wearing hats or hairnets and food products and containers stored in the restroom were all noted on the inspection. LalaJava remedied these violations either immediately, or by the following inspection, removing all of the violations.
Terry said it takes her 17 hours within three days to conduct a complete inspection of Wegmans because the store is so big. But she did it, on Aug. 27, 29 and 30, yielding an "ultimately very good inspection." However, there were two critical violations, including "fly activity" noted in the dish machine, a "few flies" in the seafood area, "mild fly activity" in the preparation area. The other critical violation involved taco and veggie pizza units at a low temperature (the units were at 123 and 128 degrees, and the minimum is 140). With more than 40 comments noted in this inspection, a majority were "good" and "great" including notes about the well-maintained working area, clean ovens, clean tanks, a clean raw meat prep area, food prep employees "very knowledgeable" and an extremely clean bread area. "Vinnie's great!" read the vegetable area inspection.