2 Cumming Mexican Restaurants Fail Inspections

CUMMING, GA — Two Mexican restaurants in Cumming failed their health inspections during the past week, with the presence of flies and food debris on supposedly clean dishes listed as problems as both.

Rio Balsas, at 1495 Dahlonega Hwy., scored a 62/U on its inspection last Thursday and 7 Tequilas Cantina, at 5063 Post Rd., scored a 59/U on its inspection Tuesday.

At Rio Balsas, "numerous flies" were spotted in the kitchen and supposedly clean chip baskets had food debris on them, according to inspectors. An employee had a drink with no lid sitting next to food, food was being stored at too high of a temperature and cleaning cloths that were being used didn't have sanitizer.

Shelves in the cooler were dirty and rusty, an ice scoop was found with its handle touching the ice, there was exposed concrete on the kitchen floor and there were no procedures in place for if a customer gets sick in the restaurant. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Rio Balsas had scored an 81/B on an inspection in May and a 75/C on the one before that in November.

At 7 Tequilas Cantina, flies were also found in the kitchen.

A grill cook touched raw fish, then continued to work wearing the same gloves, a dishwasher didn't have sanitizer in it and management couldn't show that employees had received food safety training.

Dishes that had been washed still had food debris on them, a bucket of sanitizer was being stored on a cooler next to food and a back door to the kitchen had a hole in it.

The failing grade was a steep drop from the 100/A that 7 Tequilas had earned during a may inspection. The restaurant got an 86/B on an inspection in November.

According to state policy, both restaurants will be inspected again within two days of their failed inspections. If the problems that were noted aren't fixed, inspectors could suspend the restaurants' licenses until they are addressed.

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