Local eateries have come under the scrutiny of health inspectors recently, after many received violation points well above the 14-point citywide average.
Neighborhood favorites Koronet Pizza, Subsconscious, and Floridita were among the greatest offenders. Inspectors cited inadequate lighting, poor maintenance of food contact surfaces, and non-vermin proof areas as common violations.
Koronet manager Peter, who declined to be identified beyond his first name, has worked at the pizzeria since its opening. He expressed dismay with 48 violation points given on Jan. 28. “We’ve been here for 27 years, and we’ve never had this problem before,” he said. “Koronet is definitely something that does not deserve the points. Most of the points they took were for silly things.”
He argued that the listed violations, such as that of the presence of live animals—in this case, a cat—were unjustified. “We’ve had the cat for 15 years. When it comes down to it, it’s whether you want to have a cat or mice,” Peter said. “Then we had a violation about the cat. Now we don’t have it anymore.”
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene also said that Koronet showed “evidence of mice or live mice” and tobacco use in food storage or dishwashing areas. It also said that food workers did not use proper utensils to eliminate bare hand contact with food.
But Subsconscious manager Juan Estrada said that the health violations were not a true indicator of the cleanliness of the restaurant’s food. “Sometimes the violations are minor, like a broken bathroom door or something that doesn’t affect the food,” he said. In response to points added for trans fats, Estrada clarified that the problem was addressed by merely switching from butter to margarine.
Subsconscious, located at 1213 Amsterdam Ave., received 29 violation points on Jan. 23. “Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed, and sanitized” and “food not protected from potential source of contamination” were among the violations listed.
La Floridita, a popular Cuban diner on 125th St. and Broadway, received 69 points on a Jan. 14 inspection, but received 30 violation points upon re-inspection on Feb. 4. City law mandates that an establishment receiving upwards of 28 points be inspected again in a follow-up to ensure that adjustments have been made.
But Floridita customers remained enthusiastic about the restaurant. Stacy Fernandez, an out-of-town customer, praised the food, particularly the plantains and fried cheese. “I love it!” she said. “I think it’s fantastic here.”
Her friend Danielle Kish was not too concerned with the possibility of health violations at La Floridita. “I work at a restaurant, so it would depend on what the points were for. There’s a difference between rats running around the kitchen and a person not using a glove once,” she said.
Still, many local restaurants passed the health inspections with comparatively good scores. Tom’s Restaurant was penalized with only seven points.
“You just got to be on top of it,” said Mike Zoulis, who has been the manager of Tom’s for 25 years. “Us managers don’t just come in and sit in the corners. We do our own inspections. We just try to keep a clean place,” he said.
Some students were less than surprised to see their local haunts slapped with health code violations.
“I mean you look at Koronet’s, and you expect it [violations],” Albert Chen, SEAS ’10, said.
But the results may not deter students and local residents. “Taco Bell failed their health inspection, and I still go there,” Sajaa Ahmed, CC ’10, said. “But I don’t like Subsconscious enough.”
COMMENTS
Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comment policy