Nine Darien schools, restaurants and other food-serving establishments each received A ratings in the latest reports of health inspections released by Darien Health Department. One received a “B” rating.
Town Health Department ratings certificates are supposed to be displayed prominently, like this one at the Frosty Bear Cafe at Darien Library.
The 10 inspections took place between May 13 and 20.
Keep in mind that a food-serving establishment with a history of good ratings may occasionally get a poor inspection rating, occasionally the best do, and every restaurant normally gets a few things wrong.
Here’s an alphabetical list of the most recently released health inspection results (an explanation of how this list is put together is immediately below it):
SCHOOLS
—Darien High School — 80 High School Lane — May 20 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 98 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Inside ice machine door, plastic cover broken/cracked.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Light activity, light menu for rest of school year. All temp[erature]s OK. Excellent labeling practices. Really good overall inspection.”
Image from the H.D. website
From the Darien High School May 20 inspection report
— Middlesex Middle School — 204 Hollow Tree Ridge Road — May 17 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 98 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Issues with controlling water temps at hand sinks. Hot water temping at 152 degrees. [At] some sinks there is cold water. Others have cool or lukewarm water. — Inspector’s Comments: “Violation similar to one documented in Sept. 13, 2017 inspection, which was rectified.” [Editor’s note: from the September 2017 inspection: “[N]o cold water available at any sink, including hand sinks, when sanitizer unit turned on at three-bay sink.”]
Image from the H.D. website
From the May 17 inspection report for Middlesex Middle School
— Ox Ridge School — 395 Mansfield Ave. — May 15 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 100
— Royle School — 133 Mansfield Ave. — May 15 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 97 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Shelled eggs stored over juice boxes in walk-in cooler–corrected; frozen condensate building up in walk-in freezer unit.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Another good inspection. Need to keep eyes out for food storage. Temps good.”
Image from the H.D. website
From the inspection report for the Royle School cafeteria, May 15
OTHER FOOD-SERVING ESTABLISHMENTS
—Chipotle Mexican Grill — Darien North rest stop, Interstate 95 — May 13 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 94
— Jennifer’s Kitchen at White Bridge — 284 Tokeneke Road — May 20 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 92
—Noroton Yacht Club — 23 Baywater Dr. — May 17 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
—Shake Shack — 1340 Post Road — May 13 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 96
—Stop & Shop — 148 Heights Road — May 15 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
—Burgers, Shakes & Fries — 800 Post Road — May 13 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 97
Dates link to the food establishment’s inspection report referenced here (when available, sometimes it takes a while to get posted online), and Darien’s own A/B/C ratings link to a Web page showing several of the restaurant’s recent inspection ratings.
For restaurants and other food-serving establishments rated “C,” and for some others of interest to the public (like schools) additional information is given. When we provide that information here, then words within brackets (“[ ]”) have been added for clarity by Darienite.com; semicolons (“;”) separate individual comments by the inspectors. Each comment separated by semicolons is about a particular violation that triggers a deduction of one or more points from a perfect state score of 100.
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See also:
- Our previous article showing restaurant inspection ratings (May 16)
- STAMFORD online health inspection results
- NORWALK online health inspection ratings (explanation of ratings)
You can find the past several inspection ratings under the Darien ratings system for food-serving establishments along with copies of inspection reports, including state health code scores on this website.
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How Darien’s Food-Serving Places Are Rated
Restaurants in town are rated under the Darien Health Department’s own A/B/C ratings system. Health inspectors also use the state health code regulations to score restaurants, with a perfect score set at 100, and demerits (of 1 to 4 points each) for various code violations.
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The Darien system takes into account problems that are ongoing, so a restaurant scoring higher than others on the state scale may actually get a lower score on the Darien scale.
The “A”, “B” and “C” letter grades a restaurant gets in its last inspection will be prominent on these certificates, which must be posted where customers can see them, and you can use your phone and the “QR” code to the right of the letter grade to get to the department’s ratings website for more information.
Any establishment actually deemed unsafe can be closed by the town Health Department until violations are fixed. Town Health Director David Knauf says that has never happened in the time he’s been with the department.