Eat At Your Own Risk

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all these are reasons hubby and i almost never go out to eat. maybe three times a year - otherwise, we just enjoy cooking at home!
 
Re: inspecting the can opener....

Yes, they check that, as well as the temperatures of any area where food is stored, be it hot storage (steam table, hot box, proofing box, etc.), or cold storage (refrigerator, fridge/prep table, sandwich board, salad board, walk-in refrigerator, freezers, walk-in freezers, etc. ALL of the fridge's where I work have thermometers in them, and believe me, I check them constantly.

Inspectors also check to make sure that proper handwashing procedures are followed, sinks are clean, gaskets on refrigerator doors are clean and in good repair (this is a big one), etc.

If I were an inspector, the very first thing I would do, in any restaurant, is look to see if they have a stand mixer (think Kitchenaid 5 qt, only much bigger). I'd make a beeline for that and look up under where the paddle or whisk is attached. That area doesn't always get cleaned good, and the dried on food can flake off into the item being prepared.

I'm the pantry supervisor at my country club, and I have to pay VERY close attention to cleanliness and sanitation, as many of the items we fix are ready-to-eat and/or raw items, that do NOT get cooked. Cross-contamination in ready-to-eat foods is a big problem causer.
 
No ratings here

In Kansas we don't get ratings as such..there are just critical or non critical violations. But before you judge the places you eat because of a bad rating I would want to know the past ratings. I have worked in kitchens for 30 years....I've seen good and I've seen bad. But the one thing for sure is that if your home kitchen is messed up...your mother in law will come over....if you're at work...it will be the day the inspector will come. Even the best of restaurants can be caught on a bad day....and yes!...there are bad days. Sometimes health inspectors can be unreasonable. You can check out our restaurant on our website...www.justusrestaurant.com. We keep our kitchen clean...we date our products....we do everything we can to do things right.....but sometimes things slip by that the health inspector finds. Two years ago in a rush....I took out a container of cottage cheese to reach something at the back of the fridge. Forgot about it and left it on the shelf! Health inspector came and wrote it down. To me...he should have checked the temperature....if it was above serving temp....told me to throw it out....just as I would have done anyway! We restaurant owners know we can't stay in business by serving bad food. One incident could wipe us out. Anyway...sorry for such a long post....but I wouldn't necessarily be concerned about a B rating....after all...they weren't shut down! Get to know the people running the places you dine at. This will probably tell you a lot too.
 
I have a son that used to work for a fast food chain that told him that if he dropped a hamburger patty on the floor he was to pick it up and put it on the grill anyway. YUCK!. Are you eating at a place that practices this procedure?. That's what "eat at your own risk means" and this is why I eat at home.
 
Mish, as far as I know, our LA county is the only one with the ABC ratings. Even my family in Santa Barbara doesn't have the system. I thought going to only "A" rated restaurants were okay, till I stumbled across a website that I think was put out by my local city hall. (Wish I could find it again!) It listed ALL the restaurants in my city, and the rating it got. Not just A, B or C, but the actual percentage AND the reason they got that grade! YUCK! One of my favorites had only a 90%...it is now off the list!
The funny thing is that the little hole in the wall mexican restaurant that all us locals love was the ONLY one in the whole city to get a perfect 100%. Go figure!

One more thing - a while back, I was at Universal Citywalk and was planning on going to Wolfgang Pucks...till my son noticed the B in the window!
 
Our better restaurants are either Michelin starred, or AA starred (or is that Rosette?!). Others have recommendations by the local tourist boards.

BUT on Health and Safety - you're either OK and therefore open - or you're closed down. I certainly wouldn't be too keen on a 'B' or 'C' type rating.... I mean, what's REALLY wrong with the place that they didn't achieve an 'A'? :ermm:
 
I don't get the chance to eat at fine restaruants very often (oh woe), but occasionally, if I'm with my girls at our local mall, as a treat I might take them out to lunch or supper at the "chain" restaurants such as Outback, Chili's, TGIF. One thing I've noticed is that these restaurants are often run (it seems) entirely by teen-agers. Now, being the mother of teen girls, I've developed a rough idea of their lack of enthusiasm (and selective blindness) for doing anything they consider "yucky". On one occasion at a Chili's, I happened to be sitting in a booth in the seat closest to the wall - suffice it to say that it was better not to look too closely at anything. That was the night I developed my theory that restaurants run by teens are probably going to do only what's specified in the cleaning manual and not a whit more. On one other occasion at the same chain (pre-arranged meeting with said daughters) I also noticed it wasn't that clean - I refuse to eat at a Chili's again. Outback was the cleanest, TGIF can be iffy, too. Having said that, I worked briefly at the age of 15 in a Burger King (talk about yucky things you can do), and even then, I was impressed with the cleanliness at that particular store. Every night at closing they practically dismantled the whole grill, and wiped everything down with a bleachy smelling solution. That place was quite clean. -Sandyj
 
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