Black & pink residue in ice machine: This week’s Triangle sanitation scores (Oct. 11)

The News & Observer publishes a weekly round-up of restaurant sanitation scores to keep you up-to-date on the health grades at Triangle spots.

Sanitation scores and their corresponding letter grades are used in North Carolina to assess restaurants’ adherence to rules and standards intended to mitigate and prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses.

You’ve likely seen sanitation grade cards at restaurants you’ve visited, and The N&O previously explained what those scores mean and how they’re calculated.

Here are sanitation scores in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties for the week of Oct. 4-11.

Wake County sanitation scores

The Wake County sanitation grades database shows 100 inspections that were completed between Oct. 4-11.

▪ Most restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.

▪ Two restaurants received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.

Swagat Indian Cuisine (9549 Chapel Hill Rd., Morrisville) received a score of 88% during an inspection on Oct. 11.

• The restaurant was in violation of nine state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to three points.

• Violations included employees touching ready-to-eat naan with bare hands, multiple containers with food debris being stored as clean, heavy cream and cheese being stored at too warm of a temperature and several foods missing date markings.

• Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

• The restaurant previously scored a 92.5% in June, a 97.5% in March and a 95.5% in November 2021.

Vic’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria (4035 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 109, Raleigh) received a score of 87.5% during an inspection on Oct. 10.

• The restaurant was in violation of 18 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to two points.

• Violations included black and pink residue inside the kitchen’s ice machine, the facility lacking “a clearly defined or discernable date marking process” for foods, containers of sauce being stored on the floor of a walk-in cooler and “badly rusting” shelves inside the walk-in cooler.

• Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

• The restaurant previously scored a 93% in June, a 93.5% in March and a 94% in July 2021.

▪ No restaurants in Wake County received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but less than 80%.

▪ No restaurants received a failing grade, or a score below 70%.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Wake County by using the county’s inspection grades database at wake-nc.healthinspections.us.

Durham County sanitation scores

The Durham County inspection management system shows that 28 restaurant inspections were completed between Oct. 4-11.

▪ Most restaurants received an A grade.

▪ One restaurant received a B grade.

Wendy’s (910 Martin Luther King Jr. Pkwy, Durham) received a score of 87% during an inspection on Oct. 6.

• The restaurant was in violation of 17 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to two points.

• Violations included employees entering the kitchen without washing their hands, an open bag of raw chicken patties being stored next to an open bag of cooked sausage patties in a reach-in freezer, several foods being held at too warm of a temperature and several foods missing date markings.

• Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

• The restaurant previously scored a 95% in February and a 95.5% in April 2021.

▪ No restaurants in Durham County received a C grade.

▪ No restaurants received a failing grade, or a score below 70%.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Durham County using the county’s inspections database at bit.ly/3pVQfpG.

Orange County sanitation scores

The Orange County inspection management system shows that 15 restaurants were inspected between Oct. 4-11.

▪ All 15 restaurants received an A grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Orange County using the county’s inspections database at bit.ly/3eQqpxc.

Johnston County sanitation scores

The Johnston County sanitation inspections database shows that nine restaurants were inspected between Oct. 4-11.

▪ All nine restaurants received an A grade.

You’ve seen sanitation scores displayed at NC restaurants. What do they mean?

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