PHOENIX - You may not know that 17 restaurants in Maricopa County had their licenses revoked in 2016 for repeatedly failing health inspections. Worse than that, some of the kitchens are still open.
Typically, going out to eat is a way to worry less, but not after reading some of the most recent restaurant health inspection reports in Maricopa County.
The Maricopa County Environmental Services Center is publishing its reports weekly to give consumers the most up-to-date information on their favorite restaurants. Just go here:
http://12ne.ws/eat
Search for the restaurant you are looking for and inspection files from the last few years will appear. A search takes just minutes and can prevent you from eating at a restaurant with multiple priority violations. Maricopa County defines a "priority violation" as anything known to cause foodborne illness in humans, so that what you should look for when reading these reports.
If you are sensitive to descriptions of disgusting health code violations, this is your warning to stop reading.
Here are are worst violations we found:
Severed goats’ heads, freezer-wrapped in the walk-in cooler at the Oasis Café in Tempe. The violation here was that the Oasis Café didn’t have receipts for the goats and couldn’t prove where they came from.
New China Buffet on Southern Avenue and Gilbert Road was found to have mouse droppings in the kitchen.
Zipps on Warner Road in Gilbert failed two inspections this year and was cited for nine priority violations, from soiled pans, nine-day-old ground beef still being stored and soft, warm cheese.
Raw chicken blood was found dripping into peeled oranges at another restaurant.
Raw pork was stored over coleslaw at a different restaurant.
Oasis Café and New China Buffet fixed their violations, and Zipps is has promised to “provide employee training.”
“Many people have died from foodborne illness outbreaks,” said Environmental Health Supervisor Tim Hurst.
Hurst has been inspecting restaurants in Maricopa County for two decades, and by now has seen almost everything.
With such an easy way to check in on your favorite restaurants, you don’t need to be surprised either.