Dirty Restaurant or Just Unsanitary: What's the Difference?

Walking through the kitchen at in New Lenox, owner Frank Gatto turns to me and says, "See? We're very clean here."

It's true. The kitchen is slow but clean—there are no signs of the raw meat stored above cooked food or potatoes stored on the floor. That's just a couple of the infractions Gatto's got on a Will County Health Department inspection earlier this year.

In August, we published the sanitation scores for every restaurant in New Lenox, listing the 10 "cleanest" restaurants and the 10 "dirtiest." That's where readers and food service employees started to debate: Do "clean" and "sanitary" mean the same thing? Is it fair to compare a (Score: 100) to a sit-down restaurant like (63)?

"I'm not asking to be held to a different standard, but my kitchen is probably five times the size (of Starbucks) and we've got a huge menu," Gatto said. He downplayed some of the infractions, such as cleaning materials being on food counters, but said other food storage issues need to be avoided. "It's not something we normally do, but it did happen."

To clarify, the county health department splits places into three levels. Level 1 would be your sit-down restaurants, Level 2 joints would have limited food preparation on site and Level 3 is all pre-packaged items. Health department spokesman Vic Reato said it's hard to say what a good score is versus a bad one.

"It's very difficult to compare inspection reports," Reato said. "It's not as much about the score as it is the severity of the infraction."

Indeed, different infractions result in a varying number of points deducted. Trash on the floor is one point off, whereas improper food storage or insects present can be five points off. You could consider other things, such as improper lighting, unrelated to sanitation entirely.

Regardless of the level of restaurant, can you excuse an employee for not washing his or her hands before handling your food? It doesn't matter if it's a breakfast sandwich cooked fresh at or one microwaved at Starbucks—I want clean hands!

Publishing these scores isn't about saying one restaurant is better than another; it's about giving the public information so you can make up your own mind. I read all the gritty details and I've still eaten at most of the places on the "dirtiest" list.

Your Comments

All that being said, I give a lot of credit to the readers. They pointed out some important information, weighed in with their thoughts and came to intelligent conclusions on both sides of the debate regarding the fairness of comparisons. Here are some of my favorite comments, told in a back-and-forth manner: 

• "Thank you for this coverage! I've wondered about one of the local independent restaurants."
• "OMG. People will now starve to death if they read this."
• "I think this is interesting but I question calling Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks a restaurant? Dunkin has thier donuts delivered to them and they heat up pre-assembled sandwiches, Starbucks does even less. I would also caution readers looking forward to "gagging" at the bottom 10"
• "I don't care what kind of a restaurant it is...storing meat at a high temperature is dangerous, storing bread crumbs on the floor is disgusting."
• "Compare apples to apples not full service sit down restaurants with a huge variety of foods to Starbucks Mike. Either that or give us a review of your Saturday night dinner at Starbucks or the bowling alley...what a joke!"
• "As far as fast food vs. sit down, standards on food sanitation is the same for all. I'm sure the more employees their are, the more mistakes there will be. It all comes down to training, leading by example and follow up by management."
• "Good luck taking your mom to mother's day brunch at Burger King you Idiot Michael Sewell."
• "Okay, I almost wish this wasn't published."

Read More

• PLEASE VISIT the Patch Places business directory for more information about New Lenox restaurants.