Results of health inspections at six food-serving establishments in town, along with one at Darien High School recently were released by Darien Health Department.
The seven health inspections were conducted from Sept. 14 to 20 (last Wednesday). Five establishments received ratings of “A,” the best ratings under the town’s system, and two received “B” — essentially mediocre or middling ratings. No “C” ratings (the worst) were given out.
The one problem for which health inspectors cited the Darien High School Cafeteria was for storing items on the floor in a walk-in cooler. Most other schools in town have been cited for storing items on the floor in their walk-ins to make up for a problem at Royle School, where the walk-in broke down.
Most Recent Inspection Results
Town Health Department ratings certificates are supposed to be displayed prominently, like this one at the Frosty Bear Cafe at Darien Library.
Here’s an alphabetical list of the most recently released health inspection results (an explanation for each part of the list, including links, is just below the list).
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 (an explanation of how this list is put together is immediately below it):
— Darien High School — High School Lane — Sept. 18 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 98 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Food items stored on floor in walk-in cooler.”
— Dunkin Donuts — 967 Post Road — Sept. 20 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 95
— Jake’s Place — 4 Ledge Road — Sept. 15 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 91
— The Melting Pot — 14 Grove St. — Sept. 15 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
— St. Luke’s Episcopal Church — 1864 Post Road — Sept. 14 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 99 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Sponges and steel wool in ware wash area need to be replaced.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Hand washing observed. Gloves worn. Excellent job by all staff members.”
— Scena Wine Bar & Restaurant — 1077 Post Road — Sept. 20 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 91
— Stop & Shop Supermarket — 148 Heights Road — Sept. 18 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 94
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.
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See also:
- Our previous article showing restaurant inspection ratings (Sept. 17)
- Darien Health Department Starts Letter Grades for Food Service Inspections
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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 like this (“;”) separate individual comments by the inspectors. Each comment is about a particular violation that triggers a deduction of one or more points from a perfect state score of 100.
How Darien’s Restaurants 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.
You can find the past several inspection ratings under the Darien ratings system for food-serving establishments on this website, and now you can also find copies of inspection reports, including state health code scores in the same place.
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.
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