See ratings for Merced County restaurants, food businesses from September health inspections
No restaurants or other food businesses in Merced County failed health inspections in September, and two that earlier failed rebounded to pass last month with “good” or “satisfactory” ratings.
Freddy’s Kitchen on Highway 59 in Snelling and The Grove on Van Clief Road in Stevinson both passed muster when inspectors from the Merced County Environmental Health Division made reinspection visits in September. The two eateries had each received “unsatisfactory” ratings based on violations discovered in previous visits
Inspectors reported 19 inspections of restaurants, cafeterias, markets and home-based food businesses in September; all but two received “good” scores. None of the businesses were rated “unsatisfactory” last month. The county serves up “good” ratings to businesses with six or fewer violation points, “satisfactory” ratings for seven to 13 violation points, and “unsatisfactory” ratings for 14 or more points.
Ten Merced County food businesses passed their inspections with no violations noted.
At The Grove, an open-air barbecue restaurant, a Sept. 6 inspection showed several repeat violations from an August visit, including no separation of public access to the barbecue area to prevent food contamination or injury to customers, and unapproved equipment being used outside on the deck of the business.
The issues noted by the inspector added up to eight violation points, good enough for a satisfactory rating compared to 18 points and an unsatisfactory rating in a July 17 inspection.
Freddy’s Kitchen had received “unsatisfactory” grades in each of the previous two months, accumulating 22 violation points in July and 19 points in August. But a county inspector noted several areas of improvement in a Sept. 29 visit that restored the restaurant to a “good” rating with three violation points.
Several other businesses that received unsatisfactory ratings in August have yet to go through a required reinspection. They include the Merced Grand Buffet on West Olive Avenue in Merced, the Sixth Street Diner on Sixth Street in Los Banos, and Panaderia La Unica on B Street in Livingston.
Merced County’s Environmental Health Division maintains a database of restaurant and food inspections online for public viewing at its web page, www.countyofmerced.com/597/Environmental-Health; click the “Food Inspections” tab along the left side of the page.
