Restaurant Violations: Cooper's Hawk, La Bella Italia, CaliBurger

ANNAPOLIS, MD —Nearly 20 restaurants and food stores in Annapolis and elsewhere in Anne Arundel County were cited for what county health inspectors called "critical violations" in the March 2018 report that was recently released. The county health department posted a list of 463 restaurant and food service inspections online and said 18 were found to have critical problems that were corrected.

Businesses, schools and care centers were inspected between March 1 and 31. Most of the problems noted in the reports were for employees who didn't wash their hands properly or food not stored at a proper temperature.

In March, three restaurants were closed temporarily because of urgent problems.

Restaurants Closed Temporarily:

• March 7, 2018: CaliBurger, 2478 Solomon’s Island Road, Annapolis, MD 21401 was closed due to no hot water available. The facility was reopened on March 8, 2018.
• March 8, 2018: Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant, 1906 Towne Centre Blvd, Annapolis, MD 21401 was closed due to a waste water discharge. The facility was reopened the same day.
• March 14, 2018: La Bella Italia, 11 West Friendship Road, Friendship, MD 20758 was closed due to a sewage discharge from the grease trap. The facility was reopened the same day.

The restaurants and businesses with critical violations were:

• Ambrosia Caterers & Cafe, 509 McCormick Drive, Suite G, Glen Burnie
• Bill Bateman's Bistro, 566 A Ritchie Highway, Severna Park
• Cold Stone Creamery, 15 Lee Airpark Drive, Edgewater
• Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant, 1906 Towne Centre Blvd., Annapolis
• Curry Masala, 1070 Annapolis Mall, FC24, Annapolis
• Deno's Pizza, 1686 Annapolis Road, Odenton
• Double T Diner, 12 Defense Street, Annapolis
• Grump's Cafe, 2299 L Johns Hopkins Rd., Gambrills
• House of Hunan, 2311 E Forest Drive, Annapolis
• La Bella Italia, 11 W. Friendship Rd., Friendship
• Lemongrass, LLC, 167 West St., 1st floor, Annapolis
• Maggiano's Little Italy, 2002 Annapolis Mall, Annapolis
• Safeway, 1451 S. Ritchie Hwy., Arnold
• Safeway Store, 540 Benfield Road, Severna Park
• Shoreline Seafood, Inc., 1034 MD Rt. 3 North, Gambrills
• Slide In Mart, 7925 Crain Hwy. South, Glen Burnie
• Springhill Suites Arundel Mills, 7544 Teague Road, Hanover
• Subway-AACC, 101 College Parkway, Arnold

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.

SEE ALSO:

• Restaurant Scores: Yellowfin, Baja Fresh, Old South Country Club
• Restaurant Scores: Adam's Ribs, Roy Rogers, Season's Pizza, Giant
• Restaurant Scores: Giant, Chuy's, Old Stein Inn, UR Burger
• Restaurant Violations: O'Brien's Oyster Bar, Giant, UR Burger

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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.

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