DENVER — Every week, FOX31 and Channel 2 looks at health inspections at restaurants in metro Denver and along the Front Range.
Pho Le – Denver
The restaurant fails Restaurant Report Card with 13 critical health code violations during an inspection in late November.
The mistakes included:
- Grease, grime and food debris built up in the kitchen
- Operator lacked basic knowledge including what temperatures to store food, when to wash hands and how to thaw meat
- Dead roaches on a sticky trap
- No soap at the hand sink in the kitchen
The restaurant owner manager sent FOX31 a statement. “All violations have been corrected in the same day. The Public Health Control has been put in place and the employees have been provided with training about food safety.”
Pho Le is at 1195 South Federal Boulevard in Denver.
El Senor Sol Mexican Restaurant – Littleton
A Jefferson County health inspector tagged the restaurant in Littleton for 13 critical violations on Nov. 21.
The issues included:
- A cook preparing raw meats was touching his face and nose and not washing his hands
- The manager was too busy busing tables to monitor the cooking and food safety practices
- Heavy black, pink and white slime in the ice machine
- Sanitizing with soap and water without the required chlorine
El Senor Sol did not return our calls, so we stopped by the restaurant. The owner agreed to show us they corrected everything and invited us into their kitchen.
El Senor Sol is at 5935 South Zang Street in Littleton.
Ragin’ Hog BBQ – Denver
Our “A” of the week goes to Ragin’ Hog BBQ in Denver for two perfect health inspections in a row. They specialize in smoked pork, chicken and ribs. Their secret? It is all about cooking low and slow. Congrats to Ragin’ Hog. Its location is 4361 Lowell Boulevard.
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 nine or ten 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.
Check your favorite restaurants
- Follow this link for restaurants in the city of Denver
- Follow this link for restaurants covered by the Tri-County Health Department
- Follow this link for restaurants covered by Jefferson County
- Restaurants covered by Weld County