In the latest food inspection reports released by Darien Health Department, two inspections resulted in the poorest rating — “C” — another was rated “B” and nine restaurants were each given an “A,” the best rating.
Town Health Department ratings certificates are supposed to be displayed promenently, like this one at the Frosty Bear Cafe at Darien Library.
Details about the towns rating system for restaurants and other food serving establishments are at the bottom of this article, and you can find an article about the ratings system here.
The most recent inspection results
In the list of health inspection results, below, information is listed by name, address, date of inspection, Darien rating, state score, inspector’s comments that led to the state rating and additional remarks on the inspection report.
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 (Jan. 13)
- 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, each one with a particular violation that triggers a point deduction from that perfect state score of 100 points.
Here’s an alphabetical list of the most recently released results of Darien health inspections (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):
- Darien Doughnut — 370 Heights Road — Jan. 17 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 91
- Jennifer’s Kitchen @ White Bridge — 284 Tokeneke Road — Jan. 12 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 90
- Mama Carmella’s — 1981 Post Road — Jan. 17 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
- Papa Joe’s — 1973 Post Road — Jan. 13 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 93
- Rory’s — 416 Post Road — Jan. 13 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 89
- Shake Shack — 1340 Post Road — Jan. 10 — Town Rating: None given for initial inspections — State Score: 94 — Inspector’s remarks: “Working on documentation of training; produce boxes on the prep counters; crates used as shelving; greasy floors throughout: mopping up at night only.” — Inspector’s additional comments: “Gloves in use — glove changes on the line without hand washing; sous vide chicken coming from Ruprecht Company, Mundelein, IL.; tablets used to log temps and sanitation two times a day; OK to receive annual permit.” [These details are given because of public interest in Shake Shack]
How Darien’s restaurants are now 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.