Bethesda Restaurant Inspections: True Food Kitchen, Potomac Pizza, Menchie's, American Tap Room

BETHESDA, MD — Do you truly know how clean your favorite coffee shop or restaurant is? Find the most recent restaurant and food service inspections in Bethesda, Chevy Chase and elsewhere in Montgomery County, performed by the Licensure and Regulatory Office at Health and Human Services. Results from inspections done April 12-21 are listed below.

Two types of inspections are done: comprehensive inspections evaluate the sanitation, maintenance and food service operations of the facility; and monitoring inspections involve checking the food service operation for critical food temperatures, equipment temperatures and general food handling, cleanliness practices. (Get Patch’s daily newsletter and real-time news alerts, or like us on Facebook. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

County inspectors check kitchens in churches, schools, pool houses and golf clubs. They also monitor the cleanliness of snack bars, kiosks inside grocery stores, hotel kitchens, bakeries and bars.

MORE ON PATCH:

• Bethesda Restaurant Inspections: Cheesecake Factory, Whole Foods, Happy Cafe, Bethesda Market
• Bethesda Restaurant Inspections: Silver, Chipotle, Ace Sushi, Wicked Waffle, Medium Rare
• Bethesda Restaurant Scores: Crave, Fish Taco, Giant Food, Harris Teeter, Le Pain Quotidien
• Bethesda Restaurant Scores: Lia's Restaurant, Bethesda Row Cafe, Cesco Osteria, Fancy Cakes By Leslie
• Bethesda Restaurant Scores: Chevy Chase Club, Harris Teeter, California Tortilla, Benihana
• Bethesda Restaurant Scores: Trader Joe's, Capitol Burger, Menchie's, Elizabeth Deli

Search for any restaurant's inspection score on the Montgomery County website.

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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