A Darien restaurant received a “C” rating, the worst in the town A-B-C ratings system, and in the same inspection received a very low score on the state’s rating scale, a 73, in the three most recently released town Health Department inspection reports.
The other two establishments were each rated “A.”
The reports, all released Thursday, were based on four visits by inspectors from July 6 to 9.
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):
—Noroton Yacht Club — 23 Baywater Dr. — July 6 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 96
—Planet Pizza — 882 Post Road — July 9 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
—Tengda Asian Bistro — Goodwives Shopping Center, 25 Old Kings Hwy. North — July 9 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 73 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Two separate units on the line not holding product below 41 degrees (product temperature 48 to 50 degrees in lowboy and the larger bain marie unit was 51 to 54 degrees); no thermometer in bain marie (product temperature was elevated); no hand washing by several employees after handling raw chicken (during the inspection only one employee washed his hands after being told to do so by the manager); rinsing hands in prep sink; dumping items in service hand sink and items stored in a hand sink; no sanitizer setup during lunch and busy preparation time, slicer not properly sanitized after sliced raw chicken; not sanitizing surfaces around three-bay and strainer used for raw chicken preparation; soda gun stored unclean (inside) bar area; missing waste receptacles at preparation hand sink, unclean hand sinks, three-bay sink at bar unclean; label granular food items not in original [container]; knives stored between preparation counters; rolling carts and other non-food contact surfaces unclean; dripping condensate in bar cool-holding unit; leak under preparation sink (large amount of water on the floor); cockroaches observed in the kitchen and large rodent dropping and holes observed near rear entrance/storage shed (given 23 hours to hire and treat for pest problems); both doors left open; hood filters unclean and dripping down the walls.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Thawing/rinsing a large amount of raw chicken in the prep sinks. Do NOT leave food uncovered in this kitchen. Previous agreement/order to replace the shelving in the walk-in??? YAMA – raw fish supplier Jersey City, NJ (bass, fluke, tilapia, makerel, w. [?] fish).”
Image from Darien Health Dept. inspections website
Page 3 of the July 9 inspection report for Tengda Asian Bistro
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 (July 6)
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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 (“;”) 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.
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.
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.
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.