DENVER — Each week, FOX31 and Channel 2 report on recent health inspections for restaurants in the Denver area. This week, we featured one failed location in Arvada, one failed location in Evergreen and a winner in Denver.
El Señor Sol Mexican Restaurant
A Jefferson county inspector failed the Evergreen location for 11 serious issues in June.
The mistakes include:
- Cutting board covered in meat juice
- Dish machine not sanitizing
- Employee not washing hands
- No certified food safety manager
The owner James Nixon sent a statement that says in part:
“We immediately took action to correct ALL of the critical points in the report. Safety for our customers is by far our number one priority. In 30 years of operating restaurants I have never received a negative Health Inspection report. We understand that there was a disconnect in the procedures. We continually inspect each location, but obviously this location was not to the standards we put forth in all of our restaurants. Clearly El Senor Sol in Evergreen was overlooked for a short period….”
El Señor Sol is located at 29017 Hotel Way in Evergreen.
Red Lantern Chinese Restaurant
The Arvada restaurant scored 9 illness risk factors in June including:
- Wonton chips stored in boxes that contained raw chicken
- Dish machine did not have chlorine
- Utensils covered with encrusted food
- Floors, ceiling and walls heavily soiled
FOX31 called the restaurant and when we didn’t receive a return call, we stopped by. Manager Ben Luo said, “We just throw away the box and throw the chicken. Cleaning and sanitizing, storage and labeling. We try to do our best to make it better. “
You can find the Red Lantern at 8770 Wadsworth Blvd.
Potbelly Sandwich Shop
It’s an “A” for the 2720 South Colorado Boulevard location. The sandwich shop scored two perfect inspections in a row.
General manager Chris Dobrik said, “As long as you follow the protocols and do everything you are supposed to do every day it just maintains itself. So, every day making sure everything is done perfectly, right. And we validate it.”
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.
