Lake Town Tavern, Wendy's: Cornelius Restaurant Inspections

CORNELIUS, NC — Two Charlotte-area restaurant kitchens — including one upscale gastropub and craft cocktail bar with 19 reported violations — saw their health ratings drop to a "B" after inspectors found a range of infractions ranging from growths in a dirty ice machine and mozzarella cheese in a cooler, to employees not washing their hands properly, according to a recent report by county health officials.

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.

Four Cornelius restaurant kitchens were inspected, all receiving "A" ratings.

Here are the restaurants inspected In Cornelius:

• Lake Town Tavern, 19708 West Catawba Avenue, Cornelius — 93/A
• Pho Nam Vietnamese Cuisine, 18059 W Catawba Avenue, Cornelius — 90.5/A
• Starbucks #8285, 19722 One Norman Blvd., Cornelius — 99.5/A
• Wendy’s #23, 20410 W. Catawba Avenue, Cornelius — 92.5/A

Some of the lowest health inspection ratings for recently inspected Charlotte-area restaurants were given to the following restaurants, including two area kitchens that saw their ratings drop to a "B."

The restaurants with health ratings downgraded to “B” are:

• Basil Thai Cuisine, 210 N.Church St, Charlotte
• Essex Bar And Bistro, 101 S. Tryon St., Charlotte

An inspection at Basil Thai Cuisine found 16 violations, including employees not washing hands properly, raw beef stored over cooked chicken, food improperly marked with expiration dates and shrimp stored in a prep cooler in a way that meant shrimp water could drip over and contaminate bamboo as it was placed on a plate.

At Essex Bar and Bistro, an inspection found 19 violations in the kitchen, including mozzarella cheese with growth in a reach-in cooler that had to be thrown out, an ice machine and bar soda dispenser in need of cleaning, refrigerated items such as raw salmon and ranch dressing held at improper temperatures, and employee’s bag stored on top of the flour container and canadian bacon and chunks of ham weeks past their expiration date.

Results from the Mecklenburg County Health Department inspections done Oct. 10 — Oct. 16, 2018 are listed below. You may look up your favorite restaurant or find more detailed information about this latest batch of inspections here.

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