'Critical' Violations Found At 40 Anne Arundel County Restaurants In April

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Forty restaurants and food stores in Annapolis and elsewhere in Anne Arundel County were cited for what county health inspectors called “critical violations” in the April 2017 report released Monday. Three eateries at BWI Airport were among those with violations fixed while inspectors were on scene.

The county health department has posted a list of 333 restaurant and food service inspections online and says 40 were found to have critical problems that were corrected. Businesses, schools and care centers were inspected between April 1 and 30; findings were released May 22.

Most of the problems noted in the report were for employees who didn’t wash their hands properly or food not stored at a proper temperature. No businesses were closed because of violations.

Inspectors evaluate nine critical food safety items, which are those most likely to contribute to foodborne illness, the department says. If a critical food safety violation is discovered, it must be either corrected immediately or the facility risks being closed.

Find the full inspection list here and explanations for the citations on the health department website.

The restaurants and businesses with critical violations were:

• 4 Seasons Grille, 2630 Chapel Lake Drive, Gambrills
• Chesapeake Market, 502 South Cherry Grove Avenue, Annapolis
• Chevy's Fresh Mex, 2436 Solomons Island Road, Annapolis
• Chipotle Mexican Grill, BWI AB Concourse Food Court, Baltimore
• Chris's Charcoal Pit House of Annapolis, Inc., 1946 West Street, Annapolis
• City Dock Coffee, 1296 Bay Dale Drive, Arnold
• Crowne Plaza, 173 Jennifer Road, Annapolis
• Denny's Restaurant, 2095 West Street, Annapolis
• The Fresh Market, 2504 Solomons Island Rd., Annapolis
• Fujisan Sushi (inside Sam's Club), 424 George Clauss Blvd., Severn
• Greene Turtle Annapolis, 177 Jennifer Rd., Annapolis
• Grotto Pizza, 2404 Brandermill Blvd., Gambrills
• High's Convenience Store, 1616-1624 Annapolis Rd., Odenton
• Hilltop Pizza, 7756 B & A Blvd., Glen Burnie
• Hunan Odenton, 8318 D Telegraph Road, Odenton
• Kraze Burgers, BWI Concourse C-8A, Baltimore
• La Bella Italia, 11 W. Friendship Rd., Friendship
• Mario's Restaurant, 1912 Forest Drive, Annapolis
• Pit Boys, 1515 Forest Drive, Annapolis (inspected on two dates)
• The Point Crabhouse & Grill, 700 Mill Creek Rd., Arnold
• Royal Farms, 517 Ritchie Highway, Severna Park
• Saigon Palace, 10 Mayo Road, Edgewater
• Sam's Waterfront Cafe, 2020 Chesapeake Harbour Dr E, Annapolis
• Severn School/ Brock & Company, 201 Water Street, Severna Park (inspected on two dates)
• Shoreline Seafood, Inc., 1034 MD Rt. 3 North, Gambrills
• Subway, 5408 Southern MD Blvd., Lothian
• Wagon Wheel Restaurant, 5451 Deale Churchton Road, Churchton
• Wendy's, 1949 West Street, Annapolis
• Wendy's, 1454 Whitehall Rd., Annapolis
• Zona Cocina, BWI Concourse B 3, Baltimore
• Zu Coffee, 934 Bay Ridge Road, Annapolis

The Anne Arundel County Department of Health inspects restaurants and other food service facilities routinely to monitor the sanitary and physical conditions at each establishment.

Indicates type of inspection:
ICI - Initial Comprehensive Inspection: Complete environmental inspection which includes both critical and sanitation items and food flow process (HACCP)
IM(1 or 2) - Monitoring Inspection: Specialized inspections performed to monitor critical steps of food handling for potentially hazardous foods.
R(or R2) - Reinspection
Column 5: Critical food safety items found NOT in compliance. Any critical items found to be in violation must be corrected during the inspection. Numbers appearing in this column indicate the food safety item found in violation.

These numbers correspond to the following critical items:

1. Food must be obtained from an approved source.
2. Food must be protected from adulteration, spoilage and contamination.
3. Food workers must be restricted during illness or infection.
4. Food workers must practice effective handwashing.
5. Food must be properly cooled.
6. a. Food must be held at proper cold holding temperature. All existing refrigeration equipment must maintain the internal temperature of potentially hazardous food at 41 degrees F or less. b. Food must be held at proper hot holding temperature.
7. a. Food must be cooked to proper temperature. b. Food must be reheated to proper temperature.
8. Potable hot and cold running water must be provided.
9. Sewage must be properly discharged.

Ways to spot a possibly unclean restaurant kitchen are:

• Outdoor space: If the exterior is unkempt and littered, don't trust the inside.
• How clean is the restroom? Smells and overflowing trash cans are a red flag.
• Well-groomed employees: Are they washed, do they wear gloves when handling food, and do they wash their hands? If not, be careful.
• Healthy servers: If your waiter is sneezing or coughing, ask for another or consider leaving
• Table cleaning: Is a clean rag and disinfectant used to clean the table's surface? If not, the staff could just be spreading germs around.

SEE ALSO:

• Anne Arundel County Restaurant Inspections: 54 'Critical' Violations Found
• 61 'Critical' Violations Found At Anne Arundel County Restaurants, Schools: February 2017
• 43 'Critical' Food Violations Found At Anne Arundel County Restaurants: January 2017

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