Bethesda Eatery Mistakenly Cited, Concerns Over Reports Raised

BETHESDA, MD — A Bethesda restaurant owner is raising alarms about health inspection reports after a Montgomery County inspector incorrectly cited her establishment at least twice in the last two months.

"I just really worry about other restaurants and how this has affected them. I don't believe it was just me," said Barrel and Crow owner Laura Houlihan.

Houlihan said she first learned about the issue after Patch published a restaurant inspection report Friday that stated the restaurant was out of compliance for its hot holding temperature on Dec. 19. Patch routinely publishes a list of area restaurants, both in and out of compliance, based on information provided by the county — which can be viewed by anyone on DataMontgomery.

According to DataMontgomery, a government website that includes information on restaurant inspections, a hot holding temperature citation is issued when an eatery's food and equipment temperatures do not meet or exceed 135 degrees Fahrenheit.

But there was one problem: Barrel and Crow at 4867 Cordell Ave., Houlihan said, hadn't seen a restaurant inspector in five months.

Turns out the county made a mistake — and not just once, but twice. Houlihan learn about both errors when she complained to the county's Food and Facilities Licensing Licensure & Regulatory Services on Monday.

According to a letter Houlihan received from the department, Barrel and Crow was mistakenly cited for health code violations on Oct. 15 and Dec. 19. The erroneous citations, Houlihan discovered, were meant for Bethesda Bagels at Wildwood Shopping Center.

"The fact that it wasn't fixed in October and it was repeated in December...it's a different kind of unprofessional. It's very poor," Houlihan said.

So how did this happen?

"It was a computer glitch and a mistake made on the inspector's part," Kenneth Welch, the county's environmental health services manager, told Patch.

According to Welch, restaurant inspectors take their tablet into the field, open the inspection form associated with the restaurant, and document any violations. DataMontgomery then pulls the information from the numbered facility and publishes it.

In this case, Welch said: "(Erica Davis) couldn't load the inspection form for the facility that she was in because she couldn't open the database. So she went into (Barrel and Crow's form), which was next on the list, filled it out, and never moved that inspection from Barrel and Crow into the correct facility."

"The fact that you turn around and put (health violations) into another (restaurant's form) and you don't put the biggest note in front of you...that just baffles me," Houlihan said.

Welch has apologized to Houlihan and assured her that the county will rectify the situation.

Those mistakes have since been corrected online.

"This is the first time I was made aware of it," Welch told Patch. "This is the only time they've been made aware to the IT people. It never happens."

Davis, who has been a county health inspector for seven-and-a-half years, is responsible for monitoring 174 restaurants, Welch explained. She is one of 21 inspectors overseeing more than 39,000 facilities in the county.

Houlihan, a Montgomery County native, says she understands that people make mistakes, but ones like these can "virtually ruin" her business.

As the sole owner of Barrel and Crow, Houlihan calls the restaurant "her baby" and says she always tries to remedy any violations — no matter how big or small — as soon as possible.

"I put my blood and sweat in this restaurant," she explained, "...and the restaurant staff is my family."

So how can mistakes like these be prevented in the future?

Patch asked Welch what could be done, but he said there aren't any safeguards in place to ensure that mistakes aren't published online and picked up by news outlets.

Houlihan isn't satisfied with that answer and said she intends to meet with the department again in the near future.

Patch has reached out to council member Gabe Albornoz, who chairs the Health and Human Services committee, but has not yet received a response.