14 Violations Found In Cornelius Restaurant Kitchen Inspection

CORNELIUS, NC — Four Charlotte-area restaurants had their health grades drop to a “B” recently after inspections found numerous violations in their kitchens, from flies to meat slicers stored as clean with food still stuck on the blade, according to Mecklenburg County public health officials.

Five Cornelius restaurants were inspected and while all retained their "A" health grades, some had lower grades than others. A June 18 inspection at the Cook House, for example, documented 14 violations, including a container of gravy that was at an improper temperature after cooling overnight; numerous food items without date marks; cooked, frozen meatloaf in contact with raw meat and employee drinks in the food prep area.

Do you truly know how clean your favorite coffee shop or restaurant is? Find out with the most recent restaurant and food service inspections in Charlotte, Huntersville, Davidson, and elsewhere in Mecklenburg County, performed by the Mecklenburg County Health Department.

Here's a list of recently inspected restaurants in Cornelius, along with links to their inspection reports:

• Waffle House, 20130 West Catawba Ave. — 97.5/ A
• El Toro Mexican Grill & Bar, 20930 Torrence Chapel Rd. — 95.5/ A
• Sangam Indian Cuisine, 20910 Torrence Chapel Rd. — 95.5/ A
• Zapata’s Mexican Restaurant, 19905 W. Catawba Ave. — 95/ A
• The Cook House, 20936 Torrence Chapel Rd. — 90/ A

County health officials recently inspected 175 restaurants in the Charlotte-metro area. Of those restaurants, four received a "B" health grades:

• Hibachi Buffet Sushi & Grill, 9925 E. Independence Blvd. — 88.5/ B
• Guate Linda, 6016 The Plaza — 84/ B
• Studio Movie Grill, 210 E. Trade St. — 83.5/ B
• La Romero Taqueria and Juice Bar, 6301 South Blvd. — 82/ B

A June 14 inspection at Hibachi Buffet Sushi & Grill found 15 violations, including an employee changing gloves between handling raw chicken and ready-to-eat food without washing their hands, an employee mixing egg roll filling with their bare hands, and unlabeled chemicals found behind the register.

A June 13 inspection at Guate Linda found 13 violations, including employees not washing their hands during the inspection or before putting on gloves; an employee wearing gloves touching a raw steak, a stove knob and then a can of cooking spray; insufficient sanitizer levels in the sanitizer sink and 10 containers of food that had to be discarded after they were found holding at an improper temperature.

At Studio Movie Grill, a June 12 inspection found 16 violations, including three blocked hand sinks with no available soap, a food slicer dirty with food debris, a dishwashing machine that wasn’t sanitizing dishes properly, and fruit flies throughout the drink station.

A June 12 inspection at La Romero Taqueria and Juice Bar found 14 violations, including the lack of soap at the hand sink; flies throughout the facility, containers of raw shrimp stored above ready-to-eat mayonnaise and salsa; and numerous items, such as a meat slicer and utensils, stored clean with food debris left on them. Several ready-to-eat items, such as pork, soup and milk, were found without date marks and had to be thrown out.

Results from the Mecklenburg County Health Department inspections done June 12 - June 18, 2019 are listed below. You may look up your favorite restaurant or find more detailed information about this latest batch of inspections here.