Westport Drivers: How Restaurants at the I-95 Darien Rest Stops Fared in Health Inspections

Travelers along Interstate 95 have a lot of different types of food to pick and choose from after the rest stops in Darien and elsewhere were torn down and rebuilt.

If you’ve stopped by for some barbecue, Italian food or macaroni & cheese, you may be interested in how well the new eateries have fared in recent health inspections. This may or may not whet your appetite: Six of the seven were rated ”Good” by inspectors, one was rated “Fair.” We’ve also included information from two inspections last month at the Darien North rest stop: One restaurant was rated “Good”; the other, “Fair.”

(These are only the most recent health inspections -- other restaurants at the rest stops were inspected at times other than the past couple of weeks.)

DARIEN NORTH

• Cheeseboy -- Darien North rest stop -- April 9

State rating: 91
Darien rating: Good
Inspector’s remarks: ”Handle of food-dispensing utensil in contact [with] H[ot] RTE [ready-to-eat] food in bain marie; wiping cloths not kept in sanitizer between use; in-use utensils not stored properly; no hair restraint on food worker; cardboard used on shelving in refrigerated prep table; mops not stored properly (handle side down); personal items stored in prep area.”

• McDonald’s restaurant -- Darien North rest stop-- April 9

State rating: 95
Darien rating: Good
Inspector’s remarks: “Missing thermometer in salad prep table; items in hand sink (ware wash); wiping cloths not kept in sanitizer between use.”

• Chipotle Mexican Grill -- Darien North rest stop -- April 14

State rating: 97
Darien rating: Good
Inspector’s remarks: ”Common cloth used for drying hands; utensils not properly stored between use.”

Previous health inspection reports from the Darien North rest stop:

• Dunkin Donuts, Darien North rest stop -- March 12

State rating: 91
Darien rating: Fair
Inspector’s remarks: ”Bag of flour left open, unprotected during storage; utensils not properly stored between use; floors throughout establishment unclean; door gasket on under-counter cooler drawer in disrepair; item stored in hand sink (ice bucket) [in] service area; under-shelves of prep tables / display cases unclean; no soap at hand sink (ware-wash) hand sink unclean (ware-wash)“

Additional remarks: “Egg, 159 degrees / sausage, 159 degrees”

• Sbarro, Darien North rest stop -- March 12

State rating: 94
Darien rating: Good
Inspector’s remarks: ”Blade of can opener unclean; utensils not stored properly between use; wiping cloths not kept in sanitizer between use; hand sink used to rinse serving utensils.”

Additional remarks: [Six temperature readings of various foods were all acceptable.]

DARIEN SOUTH

• Sbarro -- Daren South rest stop -- April 2

State rating: 95
Darien rating: Good
Inspector’s remarks: “No working food thermometer (corrected); no visible thermometer in pizza prep table; inside shelving of prep table cooler unclean; utensils not properly stored between use.“

• Cheeseboy -- Daren South rest stop -- April 9

State rating: 97
Darien rating: Good
Inspector’s remarks: “Utensils not properly stored between use; cutting boards stained and grooved.“

Additional comment: “Establishment very clean and organized.”

• Dunkin Donuts -- Daren South rest stop -- April 9

State rating: 90
Darien rating: Fair
Inspector’s remarks: “No thermometer visible in sandwich prep unit; baker items not covered in storage area; prep tables unclean; no paper towel at hand sink (ware wash); granular [food container] not labeled, [food] not in original container; utensils not stored properly between use; door handle on walk-in freeer unclean; shelves in prep area unclean.“

• McDonald’s restaurant -- Daren South rest stop -- April 9

State rating: 98
Darien rating: Good
Inspector’s remarks: “No paper towel at hand sink (drive-thru); door gasket on under-counter cooling unit in disrepair.“

Health Department Inspection Ratings and Comments

The list above shows what scores local restaurants and other food-serving establishments received under the state health-code scoring system (“state rating,” in which 1-4 points are deducted for each violation, with 100 being a perfect score) from town Health Department inspectors.

The Health Department also gives a rating under the Darien system (“Darien rating,” in which a “Good,” “Fair,” or “Poor” is given to food-serving establishments that pass inspections). You can find Darien’s ratings for individual food-serving establishmentshere (also, the name of each restaurant in the list below is linked to its Darien Health Department ratings Web page).

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See also:

• How Darien’s Country Clubs Fared in Recent Health Inspections (April 17)
• Darien Health Inspections: One Restaurant Rated ‘Fair,’ Three ‘Good’ (April 16)
• Darien Restaurant Inspection Reports: One Poor, One Fair, Four Good (April 2)
• To sign up for the Darien Patch newsletter, breaking news alerts and more, click here.

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Also shown above are the inspection date and comments by the inspectors as noted in inspection reports. Each comment or set of comments related to a specific violation of a state health requirement are separated by semicolons (“;”). Occasionally an inspector will make general comments at the end of the report that may not be related to a violation. Those are listed separately under “additional comments.”

Sometimes an inspector’s handwriting is too hard to read or a note is otherwise unclear. In those cases, when the information can’t be clarified before publication, ellipses (“[...]”) are used (and they may be used here for other reasons). Words within brackets (“[ ]”) were not in the inspection reports.

Here are the most recent reports released by the Darien Health Department (there were only two last week, largely because the Health Department was busy with a health-related workshop for restaurant workers):

Understanding Darien Health Inspections of Food-Serving Establishments

Darien’s rating system is meant to reflect not just the facts at a food-serving establishment at the time of the inspection (as the state health-code rating does) but a broader understanding of the establishment’s health safety practices: For instance, a restaurant that repeatedly violates a state health-code measure and doesn’t fix the problem over time will have that taken into account when the Darien rating is given; an identical health-code violation found for the first time at a restaurant where violations are soon fixed is more likely to get a better overall rating.

If a food-serving establishment’s health-safety situation is poor enough, the town Health Department has the authority to shut it down immediately (that hasn’t happened in Darien in years) or demand that something be fixed immediately or issue an order which, if the restaurant doesn’t follow it, may result in a shutdown. A restaurant may appeal that order, resulting in an administrative hearing at the Health Department.

If a Darien restaurant is open, town Health Director David Knauf says, it means the Health Department knows of no danger to the public, even after an inspection in which the restaurant was given a low rating.