Major Health Code Violations: Capitola Area Restaurants and Businesses Respond

CAPITOLA, CA - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year 48 million Americans get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.

The Santa Cruz County Health Department is doing its part to prevent illnesses here. Inspectors strictly adhere to the California Retail Food Code, inspecting businesses two to four times per year. Everything is spelled out - if cold food is measured above a certain temperature, the business has committed a major violation. The temperature of water is tested. They look for signs of rats and insects. And that’s just a tiny portion of their checklist.

To make everything transparent, all inspections are posted online for everyone to see.

As a service to our readers, Patch posted an article Monday which noted every major violation in the county since Jan. 1, 2016, along with a link to inspections.

• Major Health Code Violations at 6 Capitola Restaurants

Readers were quick to defend their favorite restaurants and other food establishments, while some business owners and managers cried foul for being included in the article.

On Tuesday, Patch phoned every establishment (except for one which called us first) to give them the opportunity to explain what happened.

Evelyn at Point Market and Cafe told Patch, “We’ve never been closed” and “we’ve rectified all issues.” A follow-up email from Hassan Ayyad reports, “We want everyone to know that we would never jeopardize the integrity of our food or service to our locals, and community....we are undergoing a major renovation to make our place better for everyone to come and enjoy the food and views.” He noted that no food had to be thrown away, the problem was quickly resolved and an inspector signed-off on the fix.

Debbie Parsons, the General Manager at the Seacliff Inn and Severino’s Bar & Grill, had the following statement: “We acted very quickly,” she said. “We take our food safety and sanitation practices very seriously, and our guests are our top priority. We worked with the health department officials to get this action corrected right away,” she added. “We have a very good relationship with the Santa Cruz County Health Department. We also make sure that our employees maintain a current certification through the ServSafe Food Handler Program. We want the public to know that we were never closed, and the issue with dishwasher not being calibrated correctly was rectified immediately by Ecolab. The inspector came the following day, and we passed with a 100%. We appreciate the Health Department doing their part to ensure cleanliness and safe practices and want to thank our customers for their continued loyalty.”

The general manager of the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Capitola clarified that his establishment’s violation involved a glass washer in the bar area.

Derek Grell said that the sanitizing solution was not strong enough. He told Patch that the sanitizer was replaced in a matter of minutes. Two companies checked out the washer - Ecolab which made sure the liquid sanitizer was correct and Hobart, which services the washer. The health department inspected the glass washer again, “Next day, everything passed 100 percent.”

Ratana Bowden, owner of Real Thai Kitchen, also turned to professional service to fix a problem with proper sanitization. Bowden told Patch in an email, “The violation was for the dish washer machine. It is the routines service and was fixed within an hour of the inspection. The dish washer machine company came to check out and made sure the liquid sanitizer was correct.”

Jeanne Harrison of Flats Bistro in Aptos told Patch, “I’m a super-clean fanatic...We were written up because our croissants were out of the case.” In a follow-up email, she expressed “disappointment” that Patch reported the violation without contacting her first, “I was surprised, actually shocked, to read of our new Flats Bistro being lumped in with Santa Cruz restaurants plagued with rodents, insects and major code violations... I went to great expenses to meet all code requirements and to have a clean, new, first-rate establishment to compliment the Café Rio which I operate next door.”

When Patch phoned Tampico Kitchen at 10:06 a.m. we were told that the owner or manager was unavailable. However, Office Manager Tasha Martinez gave an explanation of her restaurant’s violation via Facebook, “The issue was a soap dispenser that had fallen down, which it was still there, although it needed to be mounted to the wall which has since been repaired and the inspector signed off on the repair on 2/16/2016.” She adds that her restaurant has never been closed due to a health inspection but fell into the category “an order to correct the problems immediately.”

The owners of El Rosal Bakery did not return a call in February for this report. However, they contacted Patch in March. In a phone conversation on Mar. 25, they described their family owned bakery as a friendly part of the community. And the reason for their violation was “a walk-in was at 48 degrees.” In a follow-up email, owner George Hernandez notes, “We were written up for our walk in refrigerator not being in the required temperature. The problem was taken care of within the hour that very same day and the inspector signed it off the very next day. We are certified through the ServeSafe Food Handler Program and food handling is our #1 priority.” The email emphasized that they were never closed down. Furthermore, they “take pride in our product” as evidenced by being in business for more than 20 years.

Watsonville proprietors were especially accessible. Johnny Loza, owner of Cadillac Cafe told Patch that his restaurant’s problem was “not having hot water for one hour and 45 minutes...I never shut down. We got the plumber in here and got it resolved.”

Javier Pacheco, the owner of Del Valle Restaurant, told Patch “The problem was the preparation cooler didn’t have gas.” He said the temperature of food in the cooler was too warm and had to be thrown out. A repairman fixed the problem and the cooler passed inspection two days later.

Jose Casillas of El Valle Produce says that he’s been running his wholesale/retail business for 25 years and has never had a problem before. He said the hot water was not hot enough when tested by an inspector, which he called “a small problem that is resolved.” He also noted that friends and family have been calling to express their support for his business.

While all businesses in the original report were called by Patch, five did not answer the phone after 12 rings; several managers or owners were not available, and one denied that her establishment had a major violation. All violations can be verified by readers here: Restaurant Inspection Report. You may also check the latest inspections for your favorite food establishments. You’ll be pleased to see that many have no violations.

Have something to add about any of the establishments mentioned? Please tell us in the comments section below!