DENVER (KDVR) — Below are some of the restaurants in the city and county of Denver that received the most fines for health violations in 2019:

Pho Le (Now Pho Vietnamese Restaurant) – Fined $3,500

The most-fined restaurant in Denver and previous offender on Restaurant Report Card is Pho Le, which goes by Now Pho Vietnamese Restaurant. Inspectors fined the South Federal Boulevard location $3,500 for repeat temperature violations.

Health department pictures from 2019 inspections show construction inside the restaurant.  Reports say employees were preparing and serving food while work on a renovation project was underway. Reports also said inspectors found:

• Fire hazard with electrical wires hanging over plumbing
• Rodent droppings
• Heavy build-up of grease

Health inspectors were back at the location on Federal in mid-February ensuring ongoing compliance.  

Cheesecake Factory (16th Street Mall location) – Fined $3,250

The 16^th Street Mall location is the second-most fined restaurant in Denver, paying $3,250 in fines. Inspectors were at Cheesecake Factory 10 times last year to ensure compliance. Inspectors found repeat temperature violations and conducted food safety training. Health experts were back two weeks ago and found no mistakes.

Ocean Prime – Fined $1,500

The Larimer Square location rounded out the 10 most-fined restaurants in Denver, paying $1,500 worth of fines. Inspectors found repeat temperature issues. Ocean Prime is at 1465 Larimer St.

California Pizza Kitchen (Cherry Creek location) – Fined $1,500

It’s the same fine and mistakes for California Pizza Kitchen in Cherry Creek.  The popular restaurant paid $1,500 in fines and threw out chicken, cheeses and pasta for being held too warm.

An inspector was back at Ocean Prime and California Pizza Kitchen Jan. 30 to check on proper temperature food holding and found both locations meeting code.

Denver Department of Public Health and Environment’s Abby Davidson said, “In general, we have seen great compliance based on someone receiving a fine, then we do not see them repeating the same violation over and over.”

The Problem Solvers are also doing their part with weekly inspection reviews on Restaurant Report Card.

“The investigators do hear, ‘Am I going to be on Restaurant Report Card? If I am, I want it to be the ‘A’ on restaurant report card.’ I definitely think it’s been an incentive for some folks to want to do a good job,” Davidson said.

Denver’s Most-Fined Restaurants of 2019:

Check your favorite location:

Denver County

Tri-County Health Department

Jefferson County

Weld County

How restaurants appear on our Report Card

Restaurant Report Card features health inspections in the city and county of Denver, Jefferson County, Weld County, Broomfield and restaurants under the jurisdiction of the Tri-County Health Department. The Tri-County Health Department includes Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties.

An inspection is a “snapshot” of what is happening during the day and time of the inspection. On any given day, a restaurant could have more or fewer violations than noted in an inspection. Also, at the time of an inspection, violations are recorded and can be corrected prior to the inspector leaving the restaurant. If violations are not corrected, a follow-up inspection is scheduled.

The criteria FOX31 Denver uses to give a restaurant a failing grade includes the evaluation of two unannounced inspections by county health inspectors.

A failing restaurant must have five or four critical violations on their most recent regular inspection and five or four critical violations on the previous regular inspection. The restaurant may also fail for eight or more violations in one inspection. Health inspectors may conduct critical or follow-up inspections, due to the number of critical violations found during a regular inspection. Those inspections may also be considered for our reports.

We recognize restaurants with two regular inspections in a row, with no critical violations, by awarding them an A.