The Guardian is getting a lot of praise for having the guts to expose News of the World for illegal and unethical wiretapping. But guess who doesn't get the notoriety or the praise they deserve -- the employees in the city Health Department who work to keep the kitchens that make the food that you're too lazy to make yourself clean. They're unsung heroes, along with all the other unsung heroes out there. We're not really sure about the identities of the latter. I guess that's the point. Either way, when 4:15 rolls around today, let's drink to them. Or 5 p.m., if you're uptight.
Wingstop specializes in deep-frying chicken arms, but the one 2412 S. Hwy. 6 hasn't seemed to have gotten down the part about doing it in compliance with city health codes. Inspectors hit the restaurant with nine violations, including food that was spoiled, unsafe or mislabeled; food held at improper temperature (corrected on site); improperly designed or maintained equipment or utensils; food stored in unclean or uncovered containers; and at least one water supply point without a backflow prevention device installed. We wonder what Troy Aikman would say about this. Actually, if whatever he has to say is as gripping as his NFL television commentary, maybe we're not so curious.
Vieng Thai (6929 Long Point) -- known for authentic Thai food -- got hit with four violations during a July 15 inspection, and three of them were at least semi-exotic. It's not too often you see the following violations: food with "porous/absorbent" container covers; "exterior walking and driving surfaces not free of litter"; and "ventilation filters not cleaned at sufficient frequencies to prevent accumulations." These don't sound too terrible, especially the litter thing. The place is on Long Point, which is basically one long strip mall. One long strip mall that houses some interesting establishments, but still, we're not losing sleep.
For the second week in a row, a game room got in trouble for health department citations. The game room at 9464 Long Point was cited and temporarily closed for serving food without the proper permits, a repeat violation for this unnamed establishment. We can't think of a single reason a place like that would try to forgo as many permit applications as possible. I guess we could ask Craig Malisow, who wrote a feature on the subject last week, if he has any theories. Or maybe not; he can be kind of intimidating.
The "Deal With It" Moment of the Week: Taqueria Guicho's-3 Brothers mobile food unit earned a citation last week for a single violation -- "Discharging liquid waste of the mobile food until while in motion." We don't even know how you get caught doing that, but we do know what we hope the owners told inspectors.
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