Restaurant Grades: Know Then Go

Below are this week's results of recent Gwinnett County restaurant inspections in Greater Lilburn by the East Metro Health District, which covers Gwinnett, Rockdale and Newton counties. Each report includes a synopsis of deficiencies found by the inspector.

Nov. 22

Name and location: , 4140 Lawrenceville Highway

Score: 100/A (follow-up inspection)

Previous scores: 64/U on Nov. 21 and 85/B on Sept. 13, 2011

No violations found; all violations from the previous day's inspection had been corrected.

Nov. 18

Name and location: , 405 Pleasant Hill Road

Score: 100/A

Previous scores: 100/A on March 15, 2011 and 100/A on Sept. 24, 2010

No violations.

Name and location: 4355 Lawrenceville Highway

Score: 96/A

Previous scores: 100/A on March 9, 2011 and 100/A on Aug. 30, 2010

Violations cited: Granola at the buffet at the teacher's bar wasn't completely underneath the shield. Clean slotted spoons were stored in a dirty bucket.

Nov. 17

Name and location: El Tropical Caribbean Grill, 3907 Burns Road

Score: 83/B

Previous scores: 100/A on Oct. 17, 2011

Violations cited: Plantains were stored underneath raw shrimp, fish and eggs in the walk-in cooler.  Chicken gizzards were kept too long in a cooler (more than seven days). Sliced vegetables and a cutting board were too close to the hand-washing sink and could get splashed. The cholorine solution in a sanitizer was too weak. A pilon had a cracked seam, and food had collected in it. Sticker residue and lables were still on containers after cleaning.

Name and location: , 4994 Lawrenceville Highway

Score: 87/B

Previous scores: 100/A on March 14, 2011 and 100/A on Aug. 24, 2010

Violations cited: The final rinse water in the sanitizing dishwasher didn't have a high enough temperature. (The heat booster had not been switched on.) Batch marking was missing for cups of macaroni, shredded cheese and sour cream packets. Time and temperature weren't logged for sour cream packets.

Nov. 9

Name and location: Starbuck's Coffee, 1560 Indian Trail

Score: 91/A

Previous scores: 99/A on April 30, 2011

Violations cited: An employee arrived at work, put on hair netting and apron and then unwrapped a sandwich and used a tong to put it in a warmer without first washing his/her hands.

Name and location: 484 Indian Trail Road

Score: 80/B

Previous scores: 90/A on Sept. 14, 2011 and 67/U on Sept. 7, 2011

Violations cited: A bag of chopped onions was stored below some raw eggs in shells in the walk-in cooler, and pie slices were stored on a shelf below raw beef and pork in another cooler. An employee used a spoon that had touched raw eggs to put cooked eggs on a plate. Some eggs, milk and hashbrowns weren't kept at 41 degrees or colder. The refrigeration units in the reach-in coolers were leaking, and one wasn't holding the temperature cold enough.