We scanned the Houston Department of Health and Human Services reports for the week of July 28 and found these popular restaurants among the offenders.
The Breakfast Klub (3711 Travis) got its hand slapped during an August 7 visit, racking up seven violations. Employees were mishandling food; equipment and service areas were not regularly cleaned; equipment wasn’t kept tight; there was insufficient ventilation and no protection against outside insects. The restaurant was also charged with “Wall/ceiling not maintained in good repair.” (We’re not sure what that means, since the last time we visited the Breakfast Klub, all the walls seemed to be standing pretty much straight up and the ceiling wasn’t falling down.)
17 Restaurant (1117 Prairie) hit the jackpot with more than a dozen violations. On August 7, there were some issues about employee handwashing (not enough sinks and using a food prep sink for handwashing); employees weren’t using the right utensils/single use gloves to handle food; an employee was drinking from an open container; and there was no test kit to measure parts per million of chemical sanitization solution. There were also some troubles with the plumbing (it was not installed/maintained properly); equipment surfaces weren’t cleaned often enough; and another wall/ceiling wasn’t in good repair. The restaurant also got cited for owning/operating a food establishment without a food service manager’s certification. 17 Restaurant’s bar was cited for an off-temperature dishwasher and equipment that wasn’t maintained.
Fornos of Italy (10001 Westheimer) earned itself violations on July 31, for, among other things, food not being stored in the right areas and an employee not “wearing an effective hair restraint/clothing that cover body hair while handling food/utensils.” (Ugh, body hair!) The bar got rapped for not having “No Smoking” signs properly displayed.
Check out the rest of the report here and see if your favorite eatery made the list. — Olivia Flores Alvarez
This article appears in Aug 14-20, 2008.
