6 Tri-Cities restaurants and other businesses fail food safety inspections

The Benton Franklin Health District gave failing grades to six restaurant or other food businesses in Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser for June 17 to 23.

One Tri-Cities restaurant, El Mirador in Pasco, had nine red violations, which are the most serious. They included a food employee in the tortilla station who coughed on her gloved hands and then returned to handle food, according to the inspector.

The health district’s food safety team gave passing grades on 10 inspections, three of them with perfect scores.

In the district’s routine inspections, businesses or organizations that receive 35 points for the more serious red violations are required to have additional inspections and must meet a tougher standard on those.

For followup inspections, they must have fewer than 25 red points and a limited number of repeat problems to pass.

Red violations are those most likely to cause food-borne illnesses, such as improper temperature control of food, lack of handwashing or bare-hand contact with foods.

Blue violations are low risk factors related to the cleanliness and physical condition of an establishment.

No notice is given before the inspections.

Inspection results are posted online so residents can look up the status and the details of any violations of individual restaurants.

Go to bit.ly/BFHDinspections. Click on the business name and then on the date of the inspection on the right half of the next page. Look for the “Violations” tab.

Failed inspections

Ameristar (Deli), 101 Merlot Drive, Prosser, Follow-up June 23 (30 Red, 0 Blue)

Notes: Lack of active managerial control, improper hot holding (<130°F)

Cottage Market (Food service), 1825 Wine Country Road, Prosser, Follow-up June 23 (45 Red, 5 Blue)

Notes: Lack of active managerial control, food worker cards not 100%, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper hot holding (<130°F).

El Mirador, 1315 N. 20th Ave., Pasco, Routine June 20 (120 Red, 0 Blue)

Notes: Lack of active managerial control, food worker cards not 100%, improper hand washing, improperly disposing of potentially unsafe food, improper shellfish stock identification, improper cooling procedures, improper hot holding (<130°F), improper cold holding (>45°F), improper chemical use.

Taquerias Sahuayo, Event, Routine June 21 (50 Red, 5 Blue)

Notes: Food worker cards not 100%, raw meat improperly stored, improper hot holding (<130°F), improper cold holding (>45°F), accurate thermometer not provided or used.

The Original Pancake House, 3717 Plaza Way, Kennewick, Routine June 22 (60 Red, 5 Blue)

Notes: Inadequate handwashing facilities, improper hot holding (<130°F), room temperature storage or improper use of time as a control.

Trejo’s Mexican Restaurant, 1833 W. Court St., Pasco, Routine June 22 (35 Red, 0 Blue)

Notes: Improperly disposing of potentially unsafe food, improper reheating procedures for hot holding, improper cold holding (>45°F).

Passed inspections

Baby J’s, 2243 Stevens Drive, Richland, Routine June 23 (20 Red, 0 Blue)

Don Taco, Event, Routine June 22 (30 Red, 5 Blue)

Fast And Curryous (Mobile), Event, Routine June 20 (25 Red, 2 Blue)

Keene-Riverview Elementary School, 832 Park Ave., Prosser, Routine June 23 (10 Red, 0 Blue)

Panera Bread, 2768 Duportail St., Richland, Routine June 22 (20 Red, 10 Blue)

Pepsi-Cola Tri-Cities — Americold, 2525 W. Hopkins St., Pasco, Routine June 20 (0 Red, 0 Blue)

Sausage Daddy, Event, Routine June 17 (0 Red, 0 Blue)

Taestea Boba, 2150 Keene Road, Richland, Routine June 22 0 Red, 0 Blue)

Taqueria La Tapatia, Event, Routine June 21 (20 Red, 0 Blue)

The Elements, 3340 Stevens Drive, Richland, Routine June 20 (15 Red, 5 Blue)

This story was originally published June 30, 2023 at 10:33 AM.