A popular downtown Chattanooga restaurant received a failing mark and three other eateries were given low scores after inspections by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department.
Sticky Fingers restaurant at 420 Broad St. was slapped with a failing score of 69 after an inspection found violations including moldy cheese in a cooler, improper temperature for reheating pork, improper temperature for storing dip, dairy and salsa and wet and dirty wiping clothes sitting out on prep tables.
Famous Wok at 3040 Battlefield Pkwy. received a score of 74 after an inspection found violations including time and temperature control foods being kept out at room temperature, improper separation of raw and ready to eat foods in the walk-in cooler, open boxes of raw chicken stored over loosely covered containers of teriyaki sauce and containers of raw chicken stored directly over and next to bags and boxes of uncooked vegetables.
A score of 75 was given to Grand China at 3815 Dayton Blvd. after an inspection found violations including employees handling chips with bare hands, rice scoops held in standing water at room temperature and food and grease build up on the side of a fryer.
Buffalo Shack at 1512 Tunnel Blvd. got a score of 79 after an inspection found violations including employees not washing hands and the inability to wash, rinse or sanitize equipment because a sink was being used for storage.
One area eatery received a perfect score of 100.
___
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department inspects restaurants twice a year and grades the businesses on a 100-point scale. Scores below 70 require corrective action.
Restaurants are reinspected if they fail to meet critical standards. To file a health-related complaint, call the Department of Environmental Health at 209-8110. The scores are original and do not reflect on-the-spot changes, which sometimes lead to upward adjustments.
One failure reported for the week ending April 17, 2019:
69 Sticky Fingers restaurant
420 Broad Street
Reasons including molded cheese found in a cooler; reheated pork immediately placed in hot box before reheating; spinach dip, dairy and salsa all found stored at 67 degrees, items discarded; cigarettes butts sitting in back hallway that leads to dumpster; wet and dirty wiping clothes sitting out on prep tables.
74 Famous Wok
3040 Battlefield Pkwy.
Reasons including improper vertical and horizontal separation of raw and ready to eat foods in the walk-in cooler; open boxes of raw chicken stored over loosely covered containers of teriyaki sauce; containers of raw chicken stored directly over and next to bags and boxes of uncooked vegetables; time and temperature control foods being kept out at room temperature; chicken was at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and had been left out at room temperature for one hour, person in charge placed chicken back into the walk-in cooler to cool it back down to 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below.
75 Grand China
3815 Dayton Blvd.
Reasons include: employees handling chips with bare hands; rice scoops held in standing water at room temperature; food and grease build up on the side of fryer; and person in charge was not in control of several foodborne illness risk factors and did not have an approved manager food safety certification.
79 Buffalo Shack
1512 Tunnel Blvd.
Reasons include: not washing hands; soiled sink and cutting board; no hand sink and another sink blocked by microwave oven; and unable to wash, rinse or sanitize equipment because sink being used for storage.
89 Best Of China Restaurant
4340 Ringgold Road
90 Sawasdee Thai Restaurant
4008 St. Elmo Ave.
92 Little Caesar's
10161 Dayton Pike
95 Einstein Bros. Bagels
515 Vine Street
95 Amigo's
3805 Ringgold Road
96 Thai Esan
4330 Ringgold Road
96 Teriyaki House
5908 Ringgold Road
96 Bojangles
1803 East 23rd Street
96 Fernandos
5308 Ringgold Road
97 Papa John's
5210 Brainerd Road
98 First Watch
300 Cherokee Blvd.
98 Pizza Bros
501 Cherokee Blvd.
98 Sweeney's Bar-B-Que
5928 Highway 58
99 Hardee's
2310 E. 23rd Street
99 Wendy's
9362 Dayton Pike
99 Dolly's Smokehouse
1900 Reggie White Blvd.
99 Daved's Deli
7639 Middle Valley Road
100 BBQ Andy's
106 Karen Drive