Health inspection finds unsafe food temperatures at Los Banos taqueria — again

One Merced County business received a failing grade for health and safety during Department of Environmental Health inspections between July 15-28.

Villa’s Taqueria failed inspection for the second time this month, after the county previously found unsafe food temperatures and a lack of handwashing sinks among other violations on July 2.

Two other businesses inspected between July 15 and 28, received “good” ratings with no violations.

Businesses get “unsatisfactory” ratings if they have more than 14 violation points. Those with seven to 13 violation points get a “satisfactory” rating and those with zero to six violations get a rating of “good.”

Major violations, which are “are very likely to get people sick,” must be corrected immediately or the business or part of the business must close until the issue can be corrected. A failed inspection requires reinspection at a later date.

Villa’s Taqueria in Los Banos got 21 violation points.

• Birria, carne and beans were all stored at unsafe temperatures and had to be destroyed. Food must be above 135 degrees if being prepared or below 41 degrees within four hours if being cooled. The inspector found 40 pounds of birria at 82 degrees, a tin of carne at 77 degrees and 10 pounds of beans inside a refrigerator at 49 degrees. This was a repeat violation because the restaurant had previously cooled refried beans unsafely.
• One sink was blocked from being used for handwashing, had a leak and no hot water. However the inspector noted this was an improvement from a previous inspection when three sinks were found to lack hot water.
• Grease had not been cleaned from the ventilation hood. This was noted at the previous inspection and did not contribute to the violation points.
• The store could not confirm a current employee had a food safety manager certificate.
• The store did not have its most recent inspection report or a public notice about the inspection report. This was another repeat violation.

The inspections represent a snapshot of conditions found at the time of a visit and may not indicate a pattern of good or bad food safety practices.

According to previous Merced Sun-Star reporting, most violations can be fixed on the spot without closure. Not having access to hot water is one of the most common violations during inspections.

Two businesses received a good rating with no violation points

• Crumbl Cookies on G Street in Merced
• Dutch Bros Coffee on W. Pacheco Boulevard in Los Banos

Crumbl Cookies had previously failed its inspection on June 18 for storing butter and cream cheese frosting at unsafe temperatures.

This story was originally published July 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.