Recent Darien Restaurant Health Inspections: 5 Poor, 13 Fair, 9 Good

Here’s how Darien Health Department inspectors rated and scored restaurants and other food-serving establishments in town during health inspections over the past six weeks.

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 results of Darien health inspections (information is listed by name, address, Darien rating, state score; restaurants with “POOR” ratings in boldface and with additional information, inspectors’ remarks about individual violations of the state health code are separated by semicolons — “;”):

• Amanda Smith Caterers — 1480 Post Road — Aug. 6 — FAIR — 94
• Burgers, Shakes and Fries — 800 Post Road — Aug. 18 — FAIR — 91
• Cheeseboy — Darien South rest stop on Interstate 95 — July 30 — GOOD — 90
• Country Club of Darien satellite kitchen — 300 Mansfield Ave. — Aug. 4 — GOOD — 92
• Country Club of Darien snack bar, first inspection of this period (see next item for second inspection) — 300 Mansfield Ave. — Aug. 12 — POOR — 92 — inspector’s remarks: “Food product temp at 50-51 (sliced tomatoes at 51, eggs at 50, cheese at 50); microwave unclean; flies observed in kitchen”)
• Country Club of Darien snack bar, second inspection of this period — 300 Mansfield Ave. — Aug. 20 — UNCLEAR — 96 —inspector’s remarks: “Prep sink pulled away from the wall; flies in kitchen; floors unclean under line equipment” — additional inspector’s comment: “hand washing/glove use observed, NO RAID in the kitchen! Installed a beg light recently. Recipe For Success (3rd party) has begun working with staff … Large meeting scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon with whole staff”
• Diane Browne & Co. — 865 Post Road — Aug. 7 — GOOD — 95
• Darien Social — 10 Center St. — Aug. 18 — FAIR — 87
• Duchess Restaurant — 306 Post Road — Aug. 20 — POOR — 89
• Dunkin Donuts — Darien South rest stop on Interstate 95 — Aug. 10 — FAIR — 92
• Green & Tonic — 1098 Post Road — Aug. 11 — FAIR — 80
• Heights Pizza — 330 Heights Road — Aug. 25 — POOR — 90 — inspector’s remarks: “Pizza slices not protected/pizza dough in walk-in [cooler] not covered; drinks stored on floor in storage area; cardboard-lined shelving; heavy dust buildup on outside exhaust fan in storage area, dust buildup on shelving in storage area; dust buildup on fan in walk-in cooler; condensation drip in walk-in cooler; head sink at cook line not working properly; front door open; walls behind cook line, hood unclean, ceiling unclean, walls behind throughout need cleaning, ceiling and ceiling vents need cleaning.”
• Jimmy’s Southside Tavern — 340 Heights Road — Aug. 25 — FAIR — 92
• Little Thai Kitchen, first inspection in this period (see next item for second inspection) — 4 West Ave. — Aug. 5 — POOR — 86 — inspector’s remarks: “Sticky rice in small cooker at 113 and 119 [degrees] (cooked this a.m.); dish machine [dish washer] not pulling bleach; three bottles not labeled with toxic chemicals (one labeled pesticide but contained degreaser); banboo used to cook sticky rice–left unclean on shelf; odor from grease trap and leak at three-bay [sink]; floors unclean/sticky.”
• Little Thai Kitchen, second inspection in this period — 4 West Ave. — Aug. 13 — FAIR — 87 — inspector’s remarks: “cover ice (fix cover/broken); some vegetable prep work being done outside back door (LG shipment received); knives in storage rack unclean, several bowls stored unclean, ice machine needs to be sanitized; bamboo used to make sticky rice … uncleanable, and ice machine cover broken (ice exposed), defrost chest freezer in basement; food debris between refrigerated units; hood dripping down the back wall; leak at faucet on three-bay sink; floors unclean in kitchen and in dry storage; unclean wall near bain marie (on the line).” — inspector’s additional comments: “No log for lunch today, handwashing observed, glove use observed, bleach at 50 ppm [parts per million] dish machine [dish washer] and 200 ppm quit in sanitizer bucket, walk-in [cooler] packed–new refrigerator ordered, rating posted.”
• Mama Carmella’s — 1981 Post Road — Aug. 27 — FAIR — 92
• Maplewood at Darien — 599 Post Road — Aug. 20 — GOOD — 97
• McDonald’s Restaurant — Darien North rest stop on Interstate 95 — Aug. 18 — GOOD — 98
• The Melting Pot — 14 Grove St. — Aug. 27 — GOOD — 94
• Planet Pizza — 882 Post Road — Aug. 18 — FAIR — 91
• Sbarro — Darien South rest stop on Interstae 95 — Aug. 10 — GOOD — 97
• Sono Baking Company — 49 Tokeneke Road — Aug. 18 — GOOD — 96
• Steam — 971 Post Road — Aug. 20 — FAIR — 88
• Stop & Shop — 25 Old Kings Hwy. N. (Goodwives Shopping Center) — Aug. 17 — POOR — 83 — inspector’s comments: “Chicken fingers at 121 [degrees] and wings at 113 (hot holding), cooking time was listed as 12:30; dish machine [dish washer] in bakery depth final rinse temp is reading at 82 degrees; inside bain marie and inside deli meat case unclean; paper towels not available at deli hand sink; rusty knives (two) and LG trays (two) in produce prep area; unclean door handle of raw chicken walk-in cooler, gaskets in deli unclean, shelving with food debris; odor from grease trap; fruit flies observed in deli area; unclean floors in deli (near fryers/grease and food) and in dairy walk-in [cooler]; walls unclean in raw chicken walk-in [cooler].”
• Stop & Shop — 148 Heights Road — Aug. 25 — FAIR — 91
• Tokeneke Beach Club snack bar — 4 Butlers Island Road — Aug. 7 — FAIR — 83
• Tokeneke Beach Club — 4 Butlers Island Road — Aug. 7 — FAIR — 89
• Vavala’s Delicatessan/Caterer — 156 Heights Road — Aug. 27 — GOOD — 94