Marietta breakfast restaurant fails health inspection with a score of 62

A Marietta restaurant that serves breakfast and brunch staples earned one of the lowest inspection scores in recent memory last week, with state health inspectors finding problems serious enough to shut down equipment and throw out food on the spot.

French Toast, at 2468 Windy Hill Road in Marietta, scored a 62 out of 100 during a routine inspection May 27. The score earns the restaurant a “U” grade, meaning unsatisfactory, from the Georgia Department of Public Health. Inspectors flagged 13 violations, several of them serious enough to carry priority status under state food safety rules.

The person in charge did not know basic food safety

The most fundamental problem inspectors found was that the manager on duty could not demonstrate basic knowledge of how to run a safe kitchen.

According to the inspection report, the person in charge was unaware of proper cold and hot holding temperatures, the correct temperature for reheating food, how to properly sanitize surfaces, what type of sanitizer the dishwasher used, how to store food correctly, and how to monitor the prep unit for temperature. The violation was not corrected during the inspection and carries a four-point deduction.

Raw food touched ready-to-eat food

Inspectors caught two separate employees cross-contaminating food during the visit.

The main cook dipped toast in raw egg, then without changing gloves grabbed a piece of ready-to-eat toast and placed it on a plate. A second employee placed raw fish in a frying basket, then used the same glove to grab a clean plate and attempted to place ready-to-eat food on it. Both incidents carry a nine-point deduction, the largest single penalty on the report. Food was thrown out and employees were required to wash their hands before continuing work.

Equipment was dirty and not working properly

Inspectors found a long list of equipment problems throughout the kitchen.

The dishwasher at the bar had a heavy pink, slimy substance around the door while staff were actively washing glasses. The main kitchen’s ice bin had a heavy black, mold-like substance around the edges and on the chute. The fan at the bottom of one prep unit had heavy black buildup. Juice dispensing nozzles had black residue on the edges. Fire suppression nozzles above the fryer were caked with grease and food debris.

The dishwasher in the main kitchen was running with zero parts per million of sanitizer, meaning dishes were being washed without any sanitizing agent at all. State rules require a chlorine solution of at least 50 parts per million. The restaurant was given 72 hours to fix the machine and told to use the three-compartment sink in the meantime.

A cooling drawer in the main kitchen was not closing properly, causing food temperatures to rise above the 41-degree maximum required by state rules. The ambient temperature inside one prep unit measured about 46 degrees. The restaurant has 72 hours to make repairs.

Food was not being kept at safe temperatures

Multiple food items at the prep unit, inside the unit’s bottom section, and in the cooling drawer were all holding above 41 degrees, the maximum safe cold-holding temperature under state rules. Raw meat was among the items found at unsafe temperatures. All of it was thrown out.

Handwashing stations were not usable

Inspectors found three separate handwashing problems during the visit.

One sink near the waffle iron had no paper towels. A sink near the walk-in cooler had no soap. A third sink had ice cubes dumped inside it, and a large floor mop was resting on the edge of the sink near the walk-in cooler. State rules prohibit using handwashing sinks for any purpose other than handwashing. The ice was melted using hot water, though the inspection report notes that soap was not replaced at the sink near the walk-in cooler despite the manager being told about the problem.

Other violations

A sanitizing bucket was found sitting on the floor at the bottom of a prep unit rather than stored off the floor as required. It was moved during the inspection.

Scoops were being stored in a container of water measuring 80 degrees. State rules require the water to be at least 135 degrees if utensils are stored that way. The utensils were removed.

The restaurant had no thermometers inside either the walk-in cooler or the walk-in freezer. The restaurant has 10 days to correct that violation.

A follow-up inspection has been scheduled.