Health Inspection Ratings: Nine Eateries ‘Good,’ Four ‘Fair,’ One ‘Poor’

Only one food-serving establishment in town received a “Poor” rating out of 14 recently inspected by the Darien Health Department.

And — unusually — there were three establishments receiving perfect “100” scores on the state scale — Subway on Heights Road, St. Luke’s Parish and Middlesex Middle School cafeteria.

Here’s how Darien Health Department inspectors rated and scored restaurants and other food-serving establishments in town during recent health inspections.

How it works

Some restaurants and other food establishments display their Darien ratings certificates on their front windows, as Darien Doughnuts did here.

Restaurants in town are rated under the Darien Health Department’s own Good/Fair/Poor ratings system. Health inspectors also use the state health code regulations to score restaurants, with a perfect score set at 100, and deductions for various code violations.

The Darien system takes into account problems that are ongoing or that have been fixed, so a restaurant scoring higher than others on the state scale may actually get a lower score on the Darien scale, or vice versa.

You can find the past several inspection ratings under the Darien ratings system for food-serving establishments on this website.

See also our previous article listing restaurant inspection ratings.

Any establishment actually deemed unsafe can be closed by the town Health Department until violations are fixed. Darien Health Director David Knauf says that has never happened in the time he’s been with the department.

Here’s an alphabetical list of the most recently released results of Darien health inspections (information is listed by name, address, Darien rating, state score):

• Darien Diner — 171 Post Road — Oct. 7 — GOOD — 95
• Darien Pizza — 55 Old Kings Hwy. N. — Oct. 6 — FAIR — 89
• Darien Social — 10 Center St. — Oct. 8 — POOR — 82 — Inspector’s remarks: “Pizza bain-marie at 51 to 55 degrees (unplugged), melon in the bar at 51 [degrees]; […] two tubs out at 104 to 98 degrees, cooked; [thermometer] missing in bain-marie; bare hand with the bar drinks … ripping basil with hands; eating in kitchen; slicer downstairs; bar hand sink not stocked; gaskets hanging, damaged gasket downstairs; plumbing not connected at bar hand sink; fruit flies present downstairs, flies; dusty ceilings.” Additional comments from inspector: “Slicer being used downstairs (not a prep area); pump broken in basement (garden hose running upstairs to mop sink); grease drums empty.”
• Dunkin Donuts — Darien North rest stop on Interstate 95 — Oct. 13 — FAIR — 91
• Dunkin Donuts — 967 Post Road — Oct. 13 — GOOD — 97
• Little Thai Kitchen — 4 West Ave. — Oct. 8 — FAIR — 88
• Middlesex Middle School — 204 Hollow Tree Ridge Road — Oct. 14 — GOOD — 100 (a perfect score)
• St. Luke’s Parish — 1864 Post Rd. — Oct. 8 — GOOD — 100 (a perfect score)
• Scena Wine Bar & Restaurant — 1077 Post Road — Oct. 8 — GOOD — 92
• SoNo Baking Company & Cafe — 49 Tokeneke Road — Oct. 8 — GOOD — 95
• Subway — 22-26 Heights Road — Oct. 13 — GOOD  — 100 (a perfect score)
• Subway — Darien North rest stop on Interstate 95 — Oct. 13 — GOOD — 96
• Subway — Darien South rest stop on Interstate 95 — Oct. 13 — GOOD 95
• Steam — 971 Post Road — Oct. 8 — FAIR — 90