Restaurant inspections during coronavirus
Health departments in Riverside and San Bernardino counties have resumed routine restaurant inspections, which had halted at the beginning of stay-home orders.
Inspectors are now checking as part of their routine whether food facilities are following guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and will provide education to operators who aren’t. They are also responding to complaints from the public.
In San Bernardino County, out of 35 interactions with food facilities on Wednesday, July 15, and Thursday, July 16, whose reports were available by Friday, 20 were for coronavirus-related complaints — mostly staff and/or guests not wearing masks or practicing social distancing.
A Riverside County health official said that department had investigated about 15 food facilities in the past week for not following COVID-19 guidelines.
Closures
Between July 10 and 16, Riverside County had three health-hazard-related closures, while San Bernardino County had none. If no reopening date is mentioned, the facility had not been listed as reopened as of this publication.
Upper Crust Pizza, 67555 E. Palm Canyon Road, Cathedral City
- Closure date: July 15
- Grade: 87/B, failing
- Reason for closure: Rodent and cockroach infestation. The inspector found rodent droppings in a dry storage area and under some bags near the back door. There was also a live roach on the ice machine and a dead one under the food-prep sink. The person in charge knew about the problems and said pest control had been visiting every other week (four rodents were trapped in late June) but they hadn’t cleaned up the droppings.
Power Bowl, 1185 Magnolia Ave. Suite A, Corona
- Closure date: July 14
- Grade: 74/C, failing
- Reason for closure: Cockroach infestation. The inspector saw a live roach crawling across a food-prep table and another in a floor sink, as well as multiple dead roaches on the floor throughout the facility. “According to the person in charge, the facility is not regularly serviced by a pest control company,” the inspector wrote. There was one other critical violation, for food not being held at safe temperatures — two coolers weren’t keeping cold, chicken in a hot holding unit wasn’t hot and some items had been left out at room temperature. There were 13 lesser violations, and one employee was not wearing a mask as required by COVID-19 guidelines. This is the restaurant’s second closure this year; it was shut down for two days in March because of a plumbing backup.
Golden Moon, 137 S. Palm Ave., Hemet
- Closure date: July 14
- Grade: Not graded
- Reason for closure: No hot water
- Reopening date: Later that day after hot water was restored
Non-closure inspections of note
Here are selected inspections at facilities that weren’t closed but had other significant issues.
La Palapa, at 34351 Date Palm Drive Suite A3 in Cathedral City, was inspected July 9 and received a failing grade of 84/B with two critical violations. When the inspection started, the facility didn’t have hot water, but an employee was able to get the water heater on before the inspection ended so it was not shut down. The employee said the water heater occasionally turns off and was recently repaired. The facility was told to immediately repair or replace it. Also, the restaurant had been dipping fish in containers of flour and breadcrumbs that had been left out at room temperature for the past three days, and there were multiple containers of food at unsafe temperatures in a refrigerator. This was the restaurant’s second failed inspection in the past year, and it now faces an administrative hearing.
About this list
This list is published online on Fridays. Any updates as restaurants are reopened will be included in next week’s list.
Inspectors visit food facilities for routine inspections, follow-ups and complaint investigations. In graded inspections, the facility starts with a score of 100 and can lose between 1 and 4 points for any of about 50 health code violations. A grade of 90 or above is an A, 80-89 is a B and 79 or below is a C. Riverside County considers B and C grades to be failing; San Bernardino does not have a pass/fail system. A facility will be closed if the inspector finds an imminent health hazard that can’t immediately be corrected.
For more information on inspections in San Bernardino County, visit www.sbcounty.gov/dph/ehsportal/FacilityList/food. To file a health complaint, go to www.sbcounty.gov/dph/ehsportal/StaticComplaint or call 800-442-2283.
For more information on inspections in Riverside County, visit restaurantgrading.rivcoeh.org. To file a complaint, go to www.rivcoeh.org/Complaint or call 888-722-4234 during business hours or 951-782-2968 after-hours.
