Restaurant Reviews: Pollo-Mex, Chicken Place, Vegetable Garden

SILVER SPRING, MD — Do you know how clean your local coffee shop or restaurant is? Find the most recent restaurant and food service inspections in Silver Spring and elsewhere in Montgomery County, performed by the Licensure and Regulatory Office at Health and Human Services. Results from inspections done Oct. 26-Nov. 9 are listed at the bottom of this story.

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.

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.

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

Tips 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.

MORE ON PATCH:

• Restaurant Reviews: La Baguette De Paris, Lily's Place, Quench!
• Silver Spring Restaurant Inspections: Starbucks, Qdoba, Safeway, Sergio Ristorante Italiano
• Silver Spring Restaurant Inspections: Nando's Peri Peri, Nestle Toll House Cafe, Tag Team Kitchen
• Silver Spring Restaurant Inspections: Jimmy Johns, Subway, Veronica's Bakery, Chicken Basket
• Silver Spring Restaurant Inspections: Chipotle, Safeway, Outback Steakhouse, Manny & Olga's
• Silver Spring Restaurant Inspections: Arbol Del Pan, Bun'D, La Posada, Outback Steakhouse

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