Restaurant Report Card - Feb. 9 - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Raw chicken stored above broccoli, five pans of mac and cheese that had to be tossed out, and food stored in open cans. Those are some of the violations pointed out by health inspectors in tonight's Restaurant Report Card. But this week, the restaurants with clean bills of health outnumber the ones with critical violations.

Nearly one dozen were violation free over a two week period, including the South End Grille on Glendale. So how they keep the place so clean? General Manager of the restaurant, Chris Felix, says, "A lot of it's experience and knowing what to do. and at the same time, making sure that everybody does the same things that they're supposed to."

Two others without violations? Starbucks on Talmadge, and down the road, Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Health inspectors wrote both facilities are "clean and well-maintained."

Meantime, City Q Barbeque on West Central had 13 violations during a standard inspection last month. 8 of those were critical -- including a bag of food in a broken cooler, 5 pans of mac and cheese that had to be thrown out because it was cooling too slowly, and no acid bath unit to properly wash, rinse and sanitize the racks from the smokers.

The manager explains that last one is not an issue. He later showed health inspectors how the staff cleans the racks. He also said, "Since I became the new general manager two weeks ago, I have addressed those issues to ensure City Q Barbeque continues to produce the highest quality BBQ product around."

Panda Chinese on Sylvania had 9 violations. They include raw chicken stored above broccoli in the walk-in cooler. Keep in mind, none of these violations are against the law. If it comes down to it, the Toledo Lucas County Health Department can close a place down, but they don't hand out fines. The point of the violations is to point them out so they don't happen again.

Finally, Gourmet Garden on Monroe Street in Sylvania had 14 violations, including 4 repeats -- food stored in open cans in the cooler, broken plumbing at the prep sink, and build up on the walls and ceiling of the kitchen due to a broken exhaust fan. 13abc left a message for the manager. We are still waiting to hear back.

Now back to those restaurants that were violation-free -- two of them were in the same plaza on Conant Street in Maumee -- Deets BBQ and Tropical Smoothie Café. Both get a thumbs up from inspectors. So does Baskin Robbins on Reynolds. General Manager David Stecher says, "You know, us and the owners, they very much pride themselves on a very clean store, and great products. It's just a constant thing, cleaning up, and it always works out well when the inspection comes along."