Savannah burger restaurant fails health inspection with a score of 54

A Savannah Wayback Burgers location is facing serious food safety concerns after failing a follow-up inspection last week with a score of 54 — a grade that falls well below the passing threshold.

State health inspectors visited the restaurant at 8108 Abercorn Street on April 24 and found 17 violations, including problems that had already been flagged in a previous inspection. A previous inspection in March passed with a 70, but the score worsened during this followup.

Cold Storage Failure

The most alarming finding involved the restaurant’s walk-in cooler. Inspectors discovered the unit had been turned off, and according to the person in charge, that was intentional. Restaurant staff said they had been shutting the cooler down every night to keep the condenser from freezing over.

The result: every item inside the walk-in cooler was holding at a temperature above 41 degrees, the maximum safe threshold for cold food storage. The person in charge discarded all of the food in the cooler during the inspection. Inspectors noted the items had been out of the safe temperature range long enough that they could not be saved.

That cold-holding violation was flagged as a repeat offense..

Repeat Violations

Several of the violations found April 24 had already appeared on a previous inspection, a sign that problems at the location are not being corrected between visits.

Inspectors again found food-contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned and sanitized, including a fry warmer and hot-holding unit coated in layers of grease and food debris. Condiment containers — including remoulade sauce, chipotle mayo, regular mayo, and bourbon mustard — were again found without open dates or discard dates marked on them. The person in charge threw away all undated containers during the inspection.

Dirty surfaces were also a repeat issue. Inspectors found buildup of debris inside the prep cooler, on the fryers, on the vent hood, on the exterior of soda and tea dispensing equipment, and under the cash register.

The person in charge was also cited again for failing to perform required duties, including making sure hand-washing stations were properly stocked and that food was being held at safe temperatures.

Mold, Leaks, and a Broken Toilet

Beyond the repeat violations, inspectors found a range of new problems throughout the restaurant.

Black mold-like buildup was found on the gaskets of soda nozzles at the front service counter. The person in charge removed the nozzles and cleaned them during the inspection.

A hand-washing sink at the front of the restaurant was found to be continuously leaking from the spigot. A separate hand-washing sink in the back of the house had no paper towels or other hand-drying provisions available — a basic requirement for any food service operation.

The women’s restroom toilet was found to be dirty, clogged, and non-functional.

Inspectors also found fryer oil stored directly on the floor near the cash register, uncovered food items including raw chicken, sauces, and chili in the walk-in cooler, and single-use lids stored on the floor under a dry-storage rack. The person in charge corrected those issues during the inspection.

None of the reach-in coolers in the facility had thermometers inside them, making it impossible to accurately monitor food temperatures.

Floors and walls throughout the restaurant — near the front seating area, the milkshake prep station, and around the fryer and grill — were found with debris buildup.

The restaurant was also displaying an outdated inspection report, rather than the most current one as required by state law.

What Comes Next

A follow-up inspection is scheduled for May 11.