Alexandria Restaurant Inspections: Gadsby's Tavern, Blackwall Hitch, Virtue Feed & Grain + More

Alexandria Health District officials recently inspected food preparation and storage in Alexandria. Full reports can be accessed on the health department’s website.

A “critical violation” is one that “poses a direct or immediate threat to the safety of the food being served.”

“In our experience, it is unrealistic to expect that a complex, full-service food operation can routinely avoid any violations,” according to the Virginia Department of Health’s website.

Here’s a look at some of recent observations made by health inspectors at some restaurants in Alexandria. Not all violations are “critical” and most are corrected during inspections.

• Virtue Feed and Grain 106 S. Union St 14-Jul-2015: 5 violations were corrected during inspection. The violations pertained to hand-washing, temperatures of raw meat and temperatures of other food items. The health inspector also noted that in addition to reminding employees to wash their hands, the restaurant also needed to provide soap at kitchen sinks and signage to remind employees to wash their hands.
• McDonald’s #05851 5311 Duke St 14-Jul-2015: 2 violations were discussed with the restaurant including a problem with the hot water being turned off at the kitchen sink.
• San Antonio Bar & Grille 200 Swamp Fox Rd 14-Jul-2015: 7 violations were corrected during inspection, including hand washing, employees drinking from unapproved containers, foods being held at improper temperatures and more.
• Historic Gadsby’s Tavern 138 N. Royal St 13-Jul-2015: 8 violations were corrected during inspection that included hand washing, food storage, food temperature, food labeling and dish washing.
• Pizzaiolo Cafe on Fern 1623 Fern St 10-Jul-2015: 17 violations were observed and some corrected including employees not wearing proper hair restraints, unwrapped food in walk-in refrigerator, wiping cloths improperly used, some prepared foods weren’t cooled sufficiently, some foods weren’t cooked hot enough, pizza prep cooler wasn’t cooling sufficiently, kitchen needs a deep cleaning,
• Bastille Restaurant & Bar 602 N Fayette St. 9-Jul-2015: Health inspector asked restaurant to update menu with information with disclosure about how some foods are prepared. Restaurant complied.
• Blackwall Hitch 5 Cameron St 6-Jul-2015: 14 violations were corrected during inspection including issues with hand washing, insect control, soiled towels on cutting boards, employees using fingers to taste food and dishwashers not working properly. Flies were observed again at a followup inspection on July 9. A pest control company was supposed to come to the restaurant to help eliminate flies.

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