Health violations temporarily close Fresno-area restaurants. Here’s what inspectors found
CORRECTION: An earlier version erroneously named one of the businesses closed temporarily following an inspection due to incorrect information from the Fresno County Department of Public Health. The correct name of the affected business is Pacific Pizza and Moga Meats at Shaw and Brawley avenues in northwest Fresno.
Faulty refrigerators, a lack of water and insect infestations were among the violations that resulted in the closure of several Fresno County restaurants last month by health department inspectors.
Three restaurants – two in Fresno, one near Sanger – were temporarily closed until their owners or managers could correct the issues identified during their inspections.
The first of the closures was at Pacific Pizza and Moga Meats, in a strip mall at Shaw and Brawley avenues in northwest Fresno.
When inspectors from the Fresno County Department of Public Health visited the shop Aug. 31, they found signs of a cockroach infestation and ordered the restaurant closed. The business was reinspected Sept. 6 and reopened Sept. 7.
At the Deli Delicious No. 8 sandwich shop at Clovis Avenue and Kings Canyon Road in southeast Fresno, faulty refrigerators that weren’t able to keep food at or below a safe temperature of 41 degrees were noted as the reason for closure following a Sept. 7 inspection.
County health officials reported that the restaurant was allowed to reopen Sept. 20.
The Hiway 180 Cafe in the community of Centerville, northeast of Sanger, remained closed as of last week following a Sept. 12 inspection in which inspectors found the restaurant had no potable water.
A lack of hot water is one of the most common violations inspectors find when they make their routine visits to restaurants.
Agency monitors thousands of food retailers
The Fresno County Department of Public Health has about two dozen environmental health specialists who monitor more than 5,300 restaurants, snack bars, grocery stores, commissaries, delicatessens and food vendors across the county, making unannounced visits four times a year.
Restaurants also are inspected in response to complaints or other concerns from the public, including when people see what they believe are health or sanitation issues at restaurants.
Some of the county’s inspectors also are responsible for checking other facilities such as tattoo or body art parlors, public swimming pools and other sites.
Inspectors run through a checklist of more than 50 issues when they visit a restaurant or food-service site.
Usually, if an inspector finds a problem, it’s the kind of thing that can be quickly remedied without a closure order – things such as having enough bleach in the water used to wipe down food-preparation counters, replacing lids on food containers in the walk-in refrigerator, resupplying paper towels in the restrooms or reminding employees to wear gloves or hairnets and to wash their hands.
But other things that represent an immediate danger to health and safety will trigger a closure until the problem can be solved. Those can include a lack of hot water for washing dishes or hands; infestations of rodents, cockroaches or other insects; refrigerators that don’t keep cold food cold enough and steam tables that don’t keep food hot enough to inhibit bacteria; or plumbing problems including backed-up drains and toilets.
Fresno County makes its restaurant inspection reports publicly available at fresnohealthinspections.org.
This story was originally published October 9, 2022 at 12:39 PM.
