Mr. Zub’s Deli and Bar 145 are downtown kent’s top health violators

When biting into a tuna sandwich, the average consumer is not questioning whether the fish was stored properly or the sandwich maker washed his hands.

Determining that is the job of health inspectors, who check restaurants to make sure they are preparing food in a safe way. In downtown Kent, these inspections have revealed both heavy violators and model restaurateurs.

Search to see violations at downtown restaurants

The top violators

Kent Chief Public Health Sanitarian Justin Smith said violations are classified as critical or non-critical depending on severity. Critical violations are situations that could cause a foodborne illness if not corrected.

“Just because it’s a critical violation, doesn’t mean someone’s going to get sick from it or it’s a huge concern, but it is one of those items that needs to be corrected,” Smith said.

Mr. Zub’s Deli had nine critical violations and seven non-critical violations during a standard inspection Nov. 3. This was the top number of critical violations in the downtown area.

Inspectors observed spinach and chip dip being kept too long in the fridge and employees not washing their hands. One hand washing sink was blocked by a table and a trash can, making it inaccessible.

The owner and management of Mr. Zub’s Deli did not reply to requests for comment.

Bar 145 had eight critical violations and seven non-critical violations during an inspection May 14. Inspectors observed raw meats and eggs stored in a freezer in a way that could cause cross-contamination and surfaces and utensils that were not cleaned regularly.

During a follow-up inspection five days later, Bar 145 passed with no violations.

Bar 145 General Manger Jemar Johnson said since the May 14 inspection, the restaurant has changed some of its management and worked to improve their upkeep.

“We have a whole new team of managers,” Johnson said. “We have a system of checks and balances in place to make sure that doesn’t happen. It happened and we learned from it. We appreciate the health department. They came out and helped us understand everything we need.”

Both Anthony’s Café and Cakes and Panini’s Bar & Grill had eight critical violations and six non-critical violations during their most recent standard inspection. In their most recent non-standard inspection, Anthony’s had three critical violations while Panini’s had none, placing Anthony’s at the third spot on the violators’ list.

During the Sept. 17 inspection, health department employees found live insects in the restaurant, coffee cream held at the wrong temperature and food with no labels to indicate how long it had been held in the fridge.

Anthony’s has changed ownership since that inspection. New owner Robin Hatcher said she plans to rename the restaurant Robin’s Nest.

“We are in compliance with the health department,” Hatcher said. “That was all [the previous owner] that had those violations.”

Snapshot of a restaurant

Smith said it is important to remember health inspections indicate how the restaurant is operating at the time of the inspection.

“When the inspectors are out in the field doing inspections, that’s a snapshot in time,” Smith said. “Any given time, that facility could be worse, it could be better. If you go into a food service at dinner rush, they’re more likely to have a lot more issues at that time than if you go in there 11 before lunch time when it’s a little slower.”

The city of Kent has three inspectors. He said the abilities and experience of the inspector can affect the reports. However, they work together to try to make inspections as similar as possible.

“We go out with each other and see what each other is looking at,” Smith said. “We all go to the same training and we try not to play favorites.”

Smith said if a restaurant has more than five critical violations, inspectors write up the person in charge.

“There’s a reason why there’s all these critical violations and it’s management,” Smith said. “Who is responsible for making sure the facility’s working correctly and following the rules of the Ohio Uniform Food [Safety] Code? It’d be the manager.”

Health inspections give consumers the ability to better educate themselves, he said.

“Personally, I like to eat someplace where I know I have the least amount of chance of eating something I don’t want to be eating,” Smith said.

Clean bills of health

Baked In The Village Café, Dominick’s Restaurant & Lounge, Popped! and Yogurt Vi all had no violations during their last standard inspection.

Baked in the Village Café specializes in breakfast, lunch and baked goods, such as pretzels, pastries and breads. Owner Andrea Berry said restaurateurs have to keep cleaning constantly.

“It’s difficult to keep up on everything,” Berry said. “Some of violations are not necessarily as critical as the health department makes them sound, but there are a lot of critical violations as far as food being out of date or uncleanliness of utensils that need to be used to prepare foods and it think that’s probably just laziness on the part of the owners and employees of the establishment.”

Popped! is a locally-sourced popcorn shop. Owner Gwen Rosenberg said she makes cleanliness a priority in her store.

“We’ve got a list of priorities and whenever I hire someone new, they’re trained on sanitizer, water, spraying down counter tops and all kinds of really fun stuff like that,” Rosenberg said. “[I tell them] you can’t eat your sandwich where you’re making food for customers and that sort of thing.”

She concedes keeping things clean is a lot easier in her restaurant, at risk class two, than a full-service restaurant.

Both as a consumer and worker, Rosenberg said food safety is important.

“I like to work in a clean place just like I like to eat in a clean place,” Rosenburg said.

Portage County Health Department Inspection Data from Downtown Kent Restaurants

Looking to see which restaurants in downtown Kent run the cleanest kitchens? Keep an eye out for my story for #kentrpa.

— Lyndsey Schley (@Fennecandfool) December 2, 2014