Denver Restaurants, Grocery Stores Ordered Closed In January

DENVER, CO — Many Denver restaurateurs and store owners work tirelessly to ensure their businesses adhere to the city's food safety guidelines. Health investigators work with restaurants, stores and facilities to ensure customers are safe; however, during some inspections, serious health violations are discovered.

If a violation poses an immediate threat to customers, a business can be ordered closed until the problem is fixed. Places are ordered shuttered for reasons such as roach and mice infestations, major plumbing problems and food stored at unsafe temperatures.

Less-serious violations, which don't require closures, often include issues such as poor ventilation, inadequate lighting, worn seal on refrigerators, a few fruit flies and inappropriate materials like cardboard and paper sitting in the wrong places. Restaurants and stores are still required to fix those problems immediately.

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Denver health inspectors post food safety inspection information about all businesses online.

Here are the Denver businesses that were ordered closed in January until their violations were fixed:

Golden Pita, 1456 Champa St:

• The restaurant was not properly sanitizing equipment and utensils, according to the city's data portal. One of the inspection notes mentioned that "... several containers holding food in the low boy cooler were visibly encrusted with old food and the owner stated she continually refills the containers without properly washing or sanitizing the containers."
• The hot and cold water in the restaurant was "inadequate" and one of the sinks was "not functioning properly," the city said.
• Around "50 large rodent droppings" were found underneath equipment in the restaurant's downstairs area, according to the data portal.

Super Star Asian Cuisine, 22 W Alameda Ave:

• The business was ordered closed "due to lack of hot water and water only reaching 45F," according to the city's data portal. Hot water must reach a minimum of 100F within 30 seconds.

Shondiz (kiosk), 479 16th St:

• This kiosk was ordered temporarily shuttered "because of inadequate water flow at the single hand sink in the kiosk," the city said. Another inspection was required to ensure hot water reached the proper temperature.

KM Concession Indoor Portables, 1325 E 46th Ave:

• This business was also ordered temporarily closed until the hot water could be fixed. An investigator said the business "could not obtain water through their hand sink and had been open to the public for ~ 2 hours with the intent on selling more throughout the day. Due to lack of water, the facility was operating under conditions that presented an imminent health hazard," according to the city's data portal.

Maui Wowi #2, 4301 N Tejon St:

• Maui Wowi's "hand sink measured 91F for 1 second and then immediately dropped to 77F after continuously running for over two minutes with investigator's calibrated thermapen," the data portal read.

Conoco #502, 3895 N Peoria St:

• The business closed temporarily after an investigator discovered the hand-washing sink was not equipped with soap, single-use towels or other approved drying devices, according to the data portal. The investigator also noted that "... the operator was not aware of the location of the designated hand sink, nor did he know that there was a designated hand sink on site."

Antojitos Tere, 13005 E Andrews Dr:

• This spot was ordered closed after an investigator discovered that the employees "were actively cutting raw chicharrons and tomatoes and had served a customer while the hot water at the hand sink measured 64F. The water was tested for 1 minute with the investigator's calibrated thermometer," according to the data portal.

High Country Almonds #2, 16999 S Golden Rd:

• An investigator said the hand sink at the business "measured 80F after running for ~1 minute." The hand sink was also blocked by boxes when the inspector arrived, the city said.

Panda Express #2265, 7850 W Quincy Ave:

• The restaurant was closed for 20 minutes after one of the hand washing sinks had broken, according to the data portal. The spot was allowed to re-open because employees were able to temporarily use a food preparation sink for hand washing until the hand sink was fixed the same day.

BD's Mongolian Barbeque, 1620 Wazee St:

• An investigator noted that the business "had no hot water located at three hand sinks ... including the two sinks located in the kitchen and one behind the grill where active food preparation was taking place upon the investigator's arrival ..." A temporary hand sink was set up at the three compartment sink that had hot water around 30 minutes later, according to the data portal.

Nallen's, 1429 Market St:

• This spot was also ordered temporarily closed due to inadequate water temperature. "While active food handling was occurring the only hand sink located behind the bar did not have running hot water," an investigator wrote in the portal. "Per the owner the hot water began leaking heavily two days prior to inspection and was shut off."

Each year, one in six Americans, or 48 million people, will experience sickness from a foodborne illness, Denver health officials said. When two or more people contract the same illness from the same contaminated food or drink, the event is called a 'foodborne illness outbreak.'