Restaurant inspections for Washtenaw County in January 2015

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Denny's, 3310 Washtenaw Ave., had 16 total violations in this month's restaurant inspection report.

(Jessica Webster | The Ann Arbor News)

The Washtenaw County Public Health Department's restaurant inspections for January 2015 are in. Of the 175 restaurants and food service facilities inspected in January, 29 had two or more priority violations, which are the most serious violations that are most likely to lead to food-borne illness.

Eleven restaurants this month had three or more priority violations, three restaurants had four or more, and one restaurants had five priority violations.

Denny's (3310 Washtenaw) had 16 total violations, five of which were priority violations.

PF Chang's

(720 Briarwood Circle), which

opened just before Christmas

adjacent to Briarwood Mall, had 14 violations, four of which were priority.

The

Wendy's

at the intersection of Carpenter and Ellsworth (4020 Carpenter Rd) had just six total violations, but four of them were priority. Wendy's was dinged for two containers of sliced tomatoes past their use-by date, shredded cheddar held at a potentially hazardous temperature, the sanitizer at the 3-compartment sink not dispensing sanitizer, and iceberg lettuce and broccoli being prepped and cooled improperly.

Though we pay special attention to restaurants with multiple priority violations, which are those most likely to lead to illness, it is worth noting that of the restaurants inspected in January, 2015, three of the top-ten in terms of total violations were Cottage Inn Pizza locations.

The Cottage Inn Pizza at 2301 W. Stadium Blvd had 17 total violations, the most in this report. Just one of them was a priority violation for storing cleaning chemicals next to plastic wrap, aluminum and utensils.

The Cottage Inn Pizza at 546 Packard had a total of 15 violations, three of which were priority violations, including mentions of tomatoes being cored by staff with their bare hands, potentially hazardous foods being held at improper temperatures, and mop water being improperly disposed of in the three-compartment sink.

The Cottage Inn Pizza at 1141 Broadway had 13 violations in this report, none of which were priority violations.

This month, 93 restaurants had zero priority violations, and 14 restaurants had no violations at all. Among the violation-free restaurants were Zingerman's Cornman Farm, Mighty Good Coffee's new South University location, Little Caesar's on West Stadium, Anthony's Gourmet Pizza on North Maple, The Espresso Bar's new location above Literati on East Washington and Five Guys Burgers & Fries at Arborland.

You can follow this link to search the Washtenaw County Public Health Department's restaurant inspection reports to see specific details about the violations noted by the inspectors.

Below is a searchable table of January 2015 inspection results. You can search by restaurant name or city, or you can click the search button without selecting either restaurant name or city to get a list of all results. Each of the columns in the table is sortable by clicking on the column header.

The Washtenaw County Public Health Department's Environmental Health Division is responsible for inspecting all food service establishment operations in Washtenaw County. These food service establishments are regulated under the State of Michigan's Food Law and Michigan Modified Food Code.

What do the violations in the reports mean?The laws governing food service changed significantly on October 1, 2012. The most noticeable change was in the terminology used for violations in restaurant inspections. Previously, violations were Critical or Non-Critical, but now they are categorized as Priority, Priority Foundation or Core.

Priority and priority foundation violations must be corrected immediately at the time of inspection or within 10 days. Core violations must be corrected within 90 days of the inspection.

Where can I see the inspection results?Washtenaw County Public Health posts restaurant inspections monthly on Mlive.com/annarbor. The inspections posted were completed the month prior (i.e. January inspections are posted in February).

You can also search the online database of all restaurant inspections and detailed reports. Click here for access to all Washtenaw County restaurant inspections

How frequent are inspections?Routine inspections take place twice per year (or once per year if the business is only open seasonally). Routine inspections are typically unannounced. However, when there are changes to the Food Code or Food Law, like those that took place Oct. 1, 2012, the first routine inspection is scheduled. Key restaurant staff must be present so the Sanitarian can explain how the changes impact the establishment's operations. The number of violations observed often decreases when inspections are announced. This may explain why the inspections appeared somewhat better than usual from October 2012 through March 2013.

Each inspection is a snapshot in time, and conditions found at the restaurant are not necessarily the conditions that could be found in the restaurant at other times. Sanitarians (otherwise known as health inspectors) ask many questions about the menu, operations and procedures to get the best possible idea of the day-to-day conditions of the restaurant. Environmental Health conducts additional inspections if a foodborne illness or other complaint is reported.

What if I have a complaint?Environmental Health responds to general restaurant complaints as well as foodborne illness complaints. Please call their office at 734-222-3800 to file a complaint or to report a suspected foodborne illness.

Jessica Webster covers food and dining for The Ann Arbor News. Reach her at [email protected]. You also can follow her on Twitter and on Google+.

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